


Inconclusive Resolutions

by Angelgod187



Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 2) [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: A burn so long, Anal Sex, Bad BDSM Etiquette, Blood and Gore, Blow Jobs, Blow Jobs in a Car, Car Chases, Cock Warming, Connor Tries His Best, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Forced Orgasm, Gun Violence, I'm Bad At Tagging, Ignored Safeword, Investigations, It will not be resolved in this part of the story, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mentions of Explosives, Minor Character Death, Multiple Orgasms, Nines is an FBI agent, Original Character(s), Safeword Use, Sexual Violence, Talk of forced upgrades, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has An Anxiety Disorder, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Penis, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Is Bad at Feelings, Verbal Abuse, emotional reconciliation, hair pulling due to anxiety
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:09:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28559607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelgod187/pseuds/Angelgod187
Summary: Even after all this time, Gavin and Nines are still healing and coming to terms with what happened to them, moving apart physically and emotionally.That doesn't stop Nines from hunting down the Davis brothers to get the revenge he so desperately wants while trying to deal with his own demons.Gavin has found peace in the arms of another, but Connor can't come to terms with him moving away from Nines.
Relationships: Gavin Reed & Original Female Character(s), Hank Anderson/Connor, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, Upgraded Connor | RK900/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Davis Investigation (Part 2) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925764
Comments: 41
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we are! Back on my bullshit of multiple parts! This is part two of Part 2! Rest assured, there are only two parts. 
> 
> As always, my amazing beta and support system, [WickedWon!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWon/pseuds/WickedWon) If it wasn't for her, this probably wouldn't even be done. Please go check out her work!
> 
> You ready for an emotional rollercoaster? Good! Please keep all hands, feet and feelings in the cart at all times till the end of the ride! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Nines entered the single story home, thunder rolling in the distance with the promise of rain. The roof was caved in on the back half of the house, a cheap rudimentary tarp pinned in a rush to keep the worst of the weather at bay. Those who ventured into the still standing walls clearly didn’t mind the lack of structural integrity. The well worn path down to the basement was better cared for. The metal steps made to handle high traffic, a hand railing quiet proof that they cared for their human patrons. 

Through his own findings in human patterns and hours of research, he’d found this place. They did days of stakeouts, he and Kelston working together in shifts with Elgan and Geanna picking up the other half. Day five, all the work paid off when one of the android fights finally took place. Face scans and rap sheets abound as sleazy men and women entered the dilapidated house for some fun. It was on Elgan and Geanna’s watch, in the middle of the night. Kelston had gotten the call, he and Nines jumping into his car and rushing to the scene.

Nines made his way down to the basement now, each step down a seven percent increase in dopamine and ten in serotonin. Back in his element at these scenes was what his research paralleled as ‘coming home’ or ‘nostalgia’ in humans. Not quite explainable but deeply felt and very real. 

The walls of the underground basement were dug out, dirt held in place by hastily applied plywood paneling and green metal fence posts. In the center of the room, a four corner ring, sheets tied to one another made ropes, similar fence posts cemented into the floor. 

The scene was chaos of voices and shouted orders, humans off to Nines’ right glaring at the federal officers, shouting and generally adding to the disorder as they passed by. Officers picked them up one by one to take them back up the way he’d come down, ready to process them. Off to his left, androids in different states of mutilation, quiet and subdued. Some had missing limbs, others missing pieces of their chassis. Some were still able to stand while others had been leaned up against the plywood walls, waiting to be seen too. Easy things to retro fit, patch up and fix. 

Their blank stares, not so easily mended. Nines drew up the small data base he’d admassed of the missing androids reports from the DPD that seemed to have some connection to the Davis brothers and scanned over all the androids. With Robert’s perfection of the charcoal chassis retrofit, serial numbers weren’t melted off, preserved as a sick reminder of his self perceived God like touch. Many of them had matching missing persons reports, for which Nines started updating that they’d been found, but were effectively dead. At least their families and loved ones would have their answer.

With all of those still active scanned, Nines redirected his attention to a growing commotion in the back of the cavernous space. Beyond the fighting ring, covered in dried Thirium only the androids could see, was a room made of chain linked fencing. Reinforced at the edging with thick bars of metal, the door framed and digitally locked. A high level of protection for a measly underground fighting ring. 

Three other android officers stood around the closed door and its lock, talking to one another in different levels of agitation. 

“Oh, good, they actually have him here,” one said, seeing Nines approach. “Agent Nines?”

“Yes,” he accepted the hand shake. “What have you found so far?”

“We haven’t found much, but,” another android said, pointing to the back of the room. A darker skinned android was huddled under a workbench. Its LED was pulsing red, eyes distant. 

“We were called to hopefully break the encryption to get him out but we can’t seem to do it ourselves. We were about to call it in when word about you arriving spread. Think you could take a crack at it?”

“Of course,” Nines stepped through the small bunch to the door. “If all else fails, we could just rip the door off.”

“It's rigged to explode under high pressure,” the third android said, pointing. Nines eyes darted up. Indeed, it was. Several points of C4 were set up along the top of the metal bars, buried into the soil to hide from less keen human eyes. 

“Why didn’t you lead with that?” Nines demanded, taking a step back, scanning through the surface to ensure the whole place wasn’t rigged. No, either from lack of resources or the humans had enough brain cells between them to not want the street above to come crashing down on their operation. Only a few choice sets of the explosive were set around the top. 

“We’ve asked the humans to stay back,” the first android scoffed. 

“You aren’t safe either,” Nines reminded them. “Get back, I need to call this in.”

Kelston was at his side in under a minute, keeping his distance as he peered up at the explosives. “Have you tried the door?”

“No, not yet. No saying that they aren’t also set to explode should someone try and hack the door,” Nines said, arms crossed, fingers picking at this forearm mindlessly. 

“Fuckers were almost smart about it,” Kelston muttered, backing up. 

“I suggest clearing this whole basement out and trying to get to the android who's locked there,” Nines said, pointing to the hostage. “Who knows what information he has seen.”

Kelston rubbed at this nose, peering over to the hefty level of evidence still needing to be cataloged. “Ok. Here’s what we’ll do. I’m going to get all living bodies but yours and his out of here. You will scan  _ everything _ for later use. Then you have my permission to try the door.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.”

Kelston turned away from him, shouting out orders into both the stuffy air and into his radio. It took about ten minutes to clear all personnel and uncharged individuals who could leave. Nines started his own investigation from there, reconstruction software going haywire around the fighting pit. He didn’t linger there. He spent longer on the markers that had already been placed by CSI. Once confident in his scan of the whole basement, he made his way back over to the door. 

“Sir?” Nines tried calling out to his fellow android. “I am Agent Nines, an RK900 with the FBI. I’m going to try and hack the door and get you out, ok?”

No response. No change to the pulsing LED.

“Ok,” Nines whispered to himself, reaching down to the digital lock. His synth skin retracted at his command, interfacing to see what it was he was dealing with. The moment he touched it, the multi faced lock came undone. 

_ Only for you, _ the message creeped over the interface, Nines yanking his hand back. The android on the other side showed the first signs of life, turning his head to Nines with his broken expression. 

Nines pinged Kelston to let him know what had happened, opening the door to show the kidnapped android he was safe. He didn’t move till Geanna rushed in, her caretaker voice in full force. She hushed and soothed the man when he broke down in tears, leading him back out of the room. 

The basement was quickly taken over by the bomb squad to neutralize the explosives. Nines exited with Geanna and the male android to give the team the space to do their jobs. 

Geanna was handed a shock blanket that she promptly threw around the android, though it served no real purpose outside of the aesthetic for the humans. The android grabbed onto it, still seeming to appreciate the sentiment. 

“Sir?” Kelston kelt down next to the victim. The android was more responsive, eyes catching the humans. “Hello. I’m Special Agent Kelston Fosters. What might we call you?”

The android didn’t answer, eyes going distant once again. 

“Sir, let's give him some time,” Geanna jumped in, cradling the android. “He’s been through a lot.”

“Sure, sure. See if you can get any information from him,” Kelston said, getting to his feet. “Nines, can you come with me?”

“Yes, sir,” Nines followed him to a beat cop’s car, a few others of the team lingering around. 

“Now,” Kelston said, getting everyone's attention. “This is the first time we've found an android alive and whole after having been with or around the Davis brothers technology. Thoughts?” 

“We need to have an expert cross compare what has been done to these androids and what was done to me,” Nines started, other’s eyes falling to the ground at the reminder. “We can see from there what is selling, how to search for the exchange of money and the resources.”

“That’s a good starting point,” Kelston agreed with a proud pull to his smile. “We will need to follow up with the other stores and shops in the area with android parts to get a pulse on what parts in particular the Davis’ are having their own androids scrounge for them. Anyone else?”

“Once we have the differences,” Jackson piped up, ‘Android Investigator’ written in bold white text over his vest. “We need to reach out to New Jericho. My department has been in communication with their leadership on the continued reach this investigation is taking, since the meeting we held. They deserve to take in this android, make him feel welcomed back till we find his family or friends.”

“Would you like to do that? Or should we have Nines do it?” Kelston asked Jackson seriously. 

“We can do it to keep communication locked on us and not upset the chain we’ve established with them,” Jackson assured. “Hand me everything you’ve gathered,” he said to Nines. “I’ll take out what they don’t need to know and give them another update when we go to take the android to them.”

“I can do that once we’ve gone over everything ourselves,” Nines said, glancing at Kelston. “There was… a lot down there.”

“We can start dissecting when we get back to the office. In the meantime,” he checked his phone. “Looks like Geanna was able to start an interface with our victim. Hopefully she gets everything we need from him.”

“I have a few questions of my own,” Nines said, taking a step back from the group. “I’ll be back.”

Nines made his way back over to Geanna, who was indeed interfacing with the victim. Her brows were pinched, clearly disturbed by what he was showing her. Nines worried sometimes that Geanna didn’t have the constitution to do this job but it was times like this, her steadfast hold on duty and helping those she could, shined through. 

He stopped a short distance, respecting their space. He scanned over the teams littered around the house, doing their jobs while joking and trying to keep a lighter mood in the face of the horrendous cruelty displayed by the captured humans. 

A gasp caught him by surprise. He turned, Geanna’s eye’s trained up at him in shock, a spark of blue from her intense emotion jumping from where she and the victim were connected. The man jumped, systems unable to handle the additional strain. He froze, LED blinking red three times before going dark. Both watched in horror as the android toppled over, lifeless. 

“David?” Geanna asked weakly, grabbing at his still exposed chassis. 

“Geanna? What happened?” Nines said, dropping down on his knees next to the android. He peeled his own synth skin back, trying to do emergency revival on the victim. 

Geanna was reaching forward till she saw the charcoal black of his chassis, the reminder. She yanked her whole body back, as if he were reaching for her. He froze, systems battling priorities to revive the android, David, and keep Geanna comfortable around him. His software strained under the rush of synthetic hormones, taking a moment to prioritize keeping David alive, Geanna’s discomfort was not as important. 

“Get back,” he ordered her, trying not to mind how her watery eyes followed his exposed chassis to grip around the white of David’s. He mounted a heavy charge behind his hand, sending it into David when it was ready. The android jolted, LED spinning white for a moment before dying again. 

“Go get the medics,” he ordered Geanna, trying to build a larger charge in his hand. 

Geanna scrambled to her feet, running to grab the medics working on the other damaged androids. Nines moved his hand from David’s arm to rest right over his Thirium pump. He released the charge, the LED spinning red for a moment but once again dying. 

The medics were suddenly at his side, doing everything in their power to revive David in the moment. Unable to get him running, they rushed him to the ambulance and off to a more experienced tech to hopefully save him. 

“Geanna, Nines!” Kelston shouted, his tone not at all happy. 

Nines didn’t glance at Geanna like she did him, both finding themselves standing before their seething superior. The warmth he’d felt in the basement of a job well done was wiped away by anxiety and cortisol. 

Kelston took a deep breath. “What just happened?”

Geanna opened her mouth a few times, trying and failing to get words out. 

“Who burnt him out?” Kelston demanded. 

“I did,” Geanna finally managed to find her voice, small and quiet. 

“Want to explain why you might have killed a witness while he was under our care?” Kelston demanded, hands on his hips. 

Her eyes slid over to Nines, curling away from him subtly to put more space between them. “I was startled.”

“By Nines?” Kelston pushed, confused. She nodded. Kelston threw his head back, sighing loudly. “Nines, do you mind giving us a moment?”

“No, not at all,” Nines did as requested, turning down the sensitivity of his audio processors as he walked a few paces away. His hand resumed the pull of hair on his forearm, running over the perfect memories, trying to find where he’d startled her. He’d only been standing there, no more than any other scene they’d encountered together. What changed? Was it all the other androids they’d recovered today? His presence was overwhelming for her? Geanna was sensitive, mindful but not careless enough to kill someone else in an accident. 

The ridiculously low percentage popped up on his HUD against his will, that Geanna might have done it on purpose to cover up any evidence. He ran through all past interactions and couldn't find concrete evidence to back it up, till today.

Nines bit back his rising fury, that maybe she’d been expecting a fellow android and her readings told her a human was standing next to her till she checked, seeing Nines instead. It was enough of a shock, intaking intense information at the same time, that her older systems scrambled the messaging. To try and protect against the jump in stress, her systems accidentally overwhelmed David. 

By accidental association, Nines killed their only solid lead in months. 

“I can hear you thinking from the other side of Detroit,” Kelston said, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I don't think Geanna was lying,” he said, having followed a similar line of thought to Nines.

Nines rambled out his theory to his superior, trying to break down how android’s systems could accidentally cross streams when under heavy emotional distress, especially older models. Between misidentifying Nines as human and the heavy emotional trama she was experiencing over the connection, it’d override any fail safes and killed David. Kelston’s arms were crossed at the end of it, squinting as he mindlessly watched others moving around them. Following it all up with how it could look like an accident. 

“Fuck,” Kelston concluded, rubbing at his nose. “She told me as much. It makes sense.”

“I would have to interface with her to double check that is what indeed happened, but that would require levels of legal I don’t know we want to jump through,” Nines cringed to offer but his software insisted, no stone unturned.

“No. I’ll keep an eye on her,” Kelston said. “Elgan and Jackson offered to clean up here and post any new findings to the server. Upload every you gathered to it?”

Nines nodded, “before I got David out of the room, should the lock have had something that could have infected me.”

“Good call. Come on, let's go home, I’m starving.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought you said I wasn’t your maid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to say, Part 3 is really coming along! It might actually get done by the time I need it to. We shall see tho...
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“I need to do something with my hands while my processors work through all this emotion,” Nines admitted in the elevator up to the apartment, clenching and relaxing his hands methodically. As if it would help the mid fifties his cortisol was sitting at. “Would you mind if I made you dinner to give myself something to do?”

Kelston was quiet, eyes searching. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“That might help,” he admitted quietly, the doors opening. “What were you planning on making yourself?”

“I got that steak a few days ago that really needs to be cooked,” Kelston said, placing his apartment fob key against the digital lock of the door, holding it open for Nines. “Maybe add something green so I can feel a little less guilty?”

Nines chuckled, taking a step into his room to throw his suit jacket on the bed that came in not too long ago. “Want me to start now?”

“Please?”

Nines wandered into the kitchen, drawing the cuffs of his sleeves up over his elbows. Pulling up a recipe as he took stock of the ingredients at his disposal. Kelston wandered back into the kitchen, changed into a loose shirt and shorts. 

“How about a rosemary pan seared steak finished with garlic compound butter… with wilted spinach and whipped buttered mashed potatoes?”

Kelston leaned against the back of the counter. “Geeze, you don’t have to go all out. Just put it in the--”

“Yes or no?” Nines said, regretting the hint of frustration in his voice. 

Kelston picked up on it right away, raising a single brow. “Yes, Nines. Thank you.”

Nines took a deep breath. There was no need to take his stress of a failed mission out on Kelston. He was just trying to help. Nines grabbed the potato peeler, getting to work. 

“What do you want to start with?” Kelston pushed gently when two perfectly naked potatoes sat on a paper towel.

Nines paused, his processors weighted down under the wave of emotions. He was tired, terrified, and still trying to understand his new place as not quite a human and no longer fully an android. All of that wrapped in a careful reconstruction of what he remembered being before, at war with the new hormones and systems trying to break him from the mold and act how they wanted. 

“I feel like Frankenstein’s monster,” Nines admitted, putting the last potato down, grabbing a strainer and ripping open the small bag of spinach. “Humans treat me differently and androids don’t know what to make of me. I never thought it would have an effect on the team, on Geanna.”

“Whoa, ok,” Kelston raised a hand, floored. “That was a lot. How do humans treat you differently?”

“You’ve admitted it before. The hair, the sweat, the pheromones I release that your body reacts to subconsciously. You treat me like I’m… human. Till something reminds you. Whether it's me giving a verbal reminder, the LED or some stilted thing I do. Till you forget again. I’ve always been proud to be an androids and that’s been robbed from me.”

Kelston took a deep breath, blowing it out through his mouth. “Shit, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make you feel like you aren’t an android. My stupid human brain can react faster than--”

“But that’s the point,” Nines said. “You are trying to treat me like a human who has years of experience dealing with hormonal spikes, knows what to do with all that left over energy. I don’t have that. I might come off the line looking like an adult human male, but I am only two years old. These hormones? I only consciously have had them for a few months,” Nines put everything in his shaking hands down, not trusting himself. “Like this? What do I--?”

“Ok, ok,” Kelston came around to Nines, but didn’t crowd him in, didn’t force contact. “Step one of being human. Learn to take deep breaths when things feel overwhelming.”

Nines searched Kelson’s eyes, trying to find deceit in the simple advice. 

“Breath, Nines,” he gently instructed. Just like Hank had said.

Kelston kept up the eye contact, Nines breathing in and out slowly. Nines felt his processors crunch slowly through the synthetic hormones. The breathing gave him something to focus on without taking in new information. Nines closed his eyes, shutting off his system's passive scans of the human. 

His hands stopped shaking, the cortisol and adrenaline stopped pumping into his systems. He took another minute to give himself full control back. He slowly opened his eyes, Kelston still standing before him, waiting patiently. 

“How do you feel?”

“Better.”

“Ok, that’s good.”

Silence fell between them. 

“I can get back to cooking.”

“Nines,” Kelston chidded. “I can cook. Stop worrying about--”

“I want to finish something I’ve started,” Nines said with a hint of desperation. “I’m not broken, just…”

“Patchworked,” Kelston said, eyes going a little distant. 

“Yes,” Nines agreed. 

“Ok,” Kelston took a step back. “I won’t stop you.”

“Thank you,” Nines said, grabbing for the spinach and starting back where he left off. Quietly, he worked through the rest of the meal, Kelston taking his place back against the counter, arms gently crossed, watching. 

Nines plated everything, sliding it across the kitchen island to the human. 

“Jesus, that looks like a five star meal.” 

Nines felt himself color, dopamine rising at the complement, moving dirty dishes to the sink to wash. “Thank you. Enjoy.”

“I’ll do the dishes,” Kelston said with a hint of seriousness. “Come watch a show with me.” 

Nines hesitated at the couch, thinking. “I think I’ll take a shower,” Nines said, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked towards his bathroom. 

“Oh, yeah, yeah, sure,” Kelston said, eyes lingering for just a moment past appropriate on Nines’ throat. “Thanks again for dinner.”

Nines ignored the human’s lingering eyes, heading into his room. He grabbed for some down time clothing he’d purchased online. Even as a machine, he’d learned what felt good and what didn’t. He could now feel pain and subsequently comfort and though muscle aches still couldn't be achieved with the very nature of his species, the emotional equivalent was still held in the set of his shoulders. Both soothed with a scalding hot shower. Nines hissed under the spray, slowly relaxing into it.

He let his processors recall the memories of the day, by himself without the need to perform for any android or human. He noted to himself that he felt in control of the whole scene, up until he scared Geanna. He wasn’t sure how he’d managed to stay calm the whole time, at least till Kelston got him home. Nines let himself be proud of that. 

Dousing himself in the mild acid to clean his chassis of the built up sweat and dirt, Nines turned a few times so the water could wash it away. He scanned himself to assure he didn’t have any lingering acid on his body that might ruin his clothing. Nines paused, letting the water hit between his shoulders, relaxing him as he ran gentle fingers through body hair that wasn’t a part of his factory settings. He wished, in times like this, the acid could burn the hair off. 

How different he was now built a rage in Nines he was terrified of. He tried so hard to assure no one could believe he was acting any different. The thought of those around him scared of what  _ they _ turned him into froze every process in his systems. 

Kelston would want to shower, he didn’t want to take all the warm water from the human, turning the water off. He toweled off, methodically plucking the hair on his limbs till his scans came back clean. He dressed in record time to hide the body he didn’t feel a connection to anymore. 

Kelston still was on the couch, the dirty plate on the coffee table. He’d gotten up at some point, balancing a bowl of half melted vanilla ice cream in one hand and an ancient PS5 controller in the other while he kicked through to the next episode. They’d started watching whole shows together, their unique form of bonding. Gavin preferred movies to shows, the differences in the humans entertainment slight, but noticeable. 

Unable to resist, Nines vaulted over the top of the couch, clearing it easily. The sudden appearance made Kelston jump. Only a little ice cream splashed over the lip of the bowl and onto his sweatpants. 

“Jesus, Nines!” Kelston shouted, body readings spiking. “You always have to be a dick?!”

“Only to you,” Nines deadpanned, taking his place on the couch as if he’d gone about it the far more normal way. 

“Could at least go get a towel or something,” the human argued. 

“I thought you said I wasn’t your maid?”

They sat in silence, Kelston looked ready to throw the bowl to the side and try to strangle the android if his heightened breathing and dilated pupils had anything to say. Nines gave him a wane smile, enjoying someone else being keyed up that wasn’t him. 

“Always on high alert, right?” Nines threw one of Kelston’s little team reminders at him.

“Not at home, you fucker,” he mumbled, setting the bowl down on the coffee table and getting to his feet to clean himself up. 

Nines caught his eyes wandering down to the other man's ass, quickly forcing his gaze to the TV when he caught himself. He connected with it, giving his processors  _ anything _ else to digest. 

Kelston came back from the kitchen, dabbing at the wet spot not too far from his groin. The android refused to look, but his active sensors left very little to the imagination. Kelston took his seat, grabbing his bowl again, glaring out of the corner of his eye at Nines, expecting him to do something else. Nines didn’t move, not trusting himself anymore. 

Nines started the show without prompt, trying to keep his attention on the program. Kelston slowly finished his dessert till he was holding an empty bowl, enthralled by the crime drama he’d insisted were his guilty pleasure. 

“They’re so bad… it's basically free real estate for jokes and shit!” He had said. 

Nines had to search for that reference, only to later run down the rabbit hole of online meme culture and euphemisms he’s somehow missed the whole of his existence. That had been a dumpster fire of a night, if Nines was being honest with himself. He was proud to say he was in the loop now, should Hank ever make a  _ fre sha vaca do _ reference, again. 

Current Nines wasn’t aware of when he’d leaned down, close enough that the apex of his cheek brushed against his roommate’s shoulder. Neither did Kelston. Both men jumped away from one another at the contact. 

“Sorry,” Nines spoke up first. “The slouch software they entered into my systems is a quiet virus I can’t seem to wipe away when I’m not paying any attention to my--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Kelston cut him off, the dusting of pink along his own cheeks catching the androids' attention. 

“Got it,” Nines said, returning to the show, posture ridged and with a healthy amount of space. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kelston picked up on Nines’ emotional shift right away. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Don't have a whole lot to say, so please, enjoy!

Nines sat down across from the confirmed human man, Tommy Hoser. His shifty behavior tied to his slow withdrawal from Red Ice. The DEA picked him up as a part of a bust and the man started singing on his knowledge of the Davis brothers. Landing him and Nines in a room together.

“My name is--”

“Nines,” Tommy said, breathing fast. “That android they added stuff too, right? Seen you on those drama shows all da time.”

Nines sighed. “Yes.”

“Hey man,” Tommy leaned in, bloodshot eyes looking around the bare room as if the two way glass didn’t hold a small army of people behind it. “It's a guilty pleasure, you know? I don’t watch it around the guys, they wouldn’t understand.”

Nines bit down his growing discomfort that the man had any insight into his previous relationship. Clearing his throat unnecessarily, he pushed the open manila envelope across to Tommy's side of the table. 

“You told your arresting officers that you wanted a plea deal? We are willing to work with you, if you give us  _ credible _ information. In doing so, you are also waiving your Miranda Rights and the advice of legal counsel. Do you understand?”

Tommy sniffled a few times, eyes skittering over the offer. Nines waited, glancing over to the two way glass, knowing all the important people standing behind it. His cortisol was steady at forty percent, not too much higher than his sustained average. It did mean his hands were moist with sweat, Thirium pump working a little faster, ready for action that wasn’t going to happen.

“‘S good,” Tommy mumbled, handing it back, signed. “Whaddya wanna know?”

“We are looking for any specific information you might have about the Davis brothers. Where did you last see them? What were they doing? Did you hear anything that might help us?”

Tommy scratch at his nose, eyes going distant as he tried to recall. “I was at Aces’ place, you know? Real nice, red light for Red Ice, 's a nice touch. Poetic and shit.”

“It is,” Nines said, trying to inject some emotion to not lose Tommy.

“The music is always real loud,” Tommy said, wiggling a finger in his ear to make his point. “Keep people from hearing each other moanin’ from the Ice, ya know?”

“Indeed.”

“Well, at Aces’,” Tommy leaned in a little. “He was talkin’ with one, I think.”

That piqued Nines’ investigative software, a lead to latch on to. “What did the brother look like?”

“Hard to tell with the red light,” he admitted. “Tall. Broad shouldered, shifty eyes. They didn’t stay still, walking ‘round and whisperin’ into Aces’ ear the whole time. But,” Tommy got a glint in his eye. “I know how to listen, ear on the ground to stay alive on the streets. They talken of getting in on Aces’ business of nabbin’ androids. Wanted to upgrade them when Aces was done draining ‘em for their Thirium. Sell ‘em off to help make some money so he didn’t have to dispose of bodies.”

“Are you sure?” Nines recalled some passing conversation on the rise of kidnapped androids as Thirium was harder and harder to come by if someone wasn’t an android. The supply of Red Ice had declined sharply but not the demand. 

North had called him over the rash of android kidnappings, worried and wanting some kind of information. He’d had to redirect her to a Jackson and the AID department, but this was an alarming twist. That the bodies weren’t being disposed of meant they weren’t being buried in previous android mass graves that were still being legally dealt with. The drain of Thirium would wipe the memories of the androids, burn internal systems. Ready for a fresh set of upgrades, returning to default without knowing what it was they were missing. Ordered to fight for the death over and over again without a care.

The idea left Nines sick to his stomach. “That is a hefty claim,” he said, sitting back in his chair, trying to seem un-bothered by the news. “That will take us a lot of time to corroborate.”

Tommy leaned back just as cocky. “I ain’t stupid. Those gears and wires are working hard. I’m no liar. Those guys are tryna play a game they think they run. They mighta been helping launder money, but the waters are hot. Either you get to ‘em first, or the streets will eat ‘em.”

Nines took a deep breath, holding it as his stress spiked at the idea of someone getting a hold of Robert before he did. He released his breath slowly, running his hands lightly over his slacks to rid them of the excess sweat. “What makes you think that?”

Tommy blew a cherry at him. “Have ya seen the news?!” He threw his hands in the air, scoffing. “They have way too much heat. The only reason they alive is the money they make a bunch of different fightin’ rings. That black chassis being indestructible? Oh man! Those androids only able to rip limbs off without having to scrap them older models? The price of the new ones is worth it just for overhead costs.”

“You seem very knowledgeable about the underground android fighting rings.”

Tommy leaned back again, eyes peeking over to the two way mirror. “You shoulda seen what they make ‘em do to the bad apples who cross ‘em or other non-upgraded androids.”

Nines grit against his immediate response to recoil at the idea. He still had to perform. Just a little longer. 

“For the androids that are kidnapped, do they have any profile for the kidnappings or is it--”

Tommy shook his head, cutting Nines off. “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout that, man.”

“Have you been to any of the fighting rings lately?”

He rolled his eyes. “No, droid man. Gotta have money to come into those. Spend all mine on ice.”

“What of the--”

A tap on the two way glass pulled both their attention. 

“Oooo, getting called back?” Tommy smiled, perking up. 

“Sit still,” Nines ordered, grabbing the paperwork as he stood. He made his way back out to the hallway, a small group waiting for him. 

“We pulled this addict in to try and get information he scoured while in a drug den?” Kelston said, pinching the bridge of his nose to try and wake himself up. 

“My contact said his story was credible,” Elgan argued, defensive.

“From all the evidence we have accumulated, his story does hold water,” Nines added. 

Kelston looked between the two androids, doubtful. “We didn’t get information,” he reminded them. “Just a reaffirmation of leads we were already aware of.”

“We didn’t know that they branched to the Red Ice rings to continue to try and financially support their next move,” Nines added. 

“We knew they were getting money from somewhere though,” Kelston argued. “It doesn’t really seem to matter where from, at this point. We can’t keep pulling resources from other divisions to try and cover all the points of contact they are making to sustain themselves.”

“I would like to question him, sir,” Elgan said, spiking Nines stress levels into the high eighties. The creep of doubt. What hadn’t he covered that Elgan wanted to know about? It was a fairly comprehensive interview.

Kelston picked up on Nines’ emotional shift right away. 

“Sure, go ahead. I think me and Nines will continue to flush out the leads upstairs. Send him anything new you find.”

“Yes, sir,” Elgan said, entering into the room. 

“Come on,” Kelston led Nines back up towards their division, each door of security grating on Nines raw nerves. Kelston led them into his office. The moment the door was shut, Nines dropped the act. He bowed over the back of a chair, panting to cool down his overheated systems as he let the waves of emotions hit him.

How close he could have been to becoming those androids forced to fight one another without an ounce of remorse. That the brothers were still working on something for him. The single message. A reminder, a warning, that Nines still wasn’t clear. Robert expected Nines to be there at some point. Always three steps ahead. 

Nines couldn’t think of what else they could add to him, so full of the emotions they left in the wake of their selfish changes. Wasn’t he fucked up enough already? What more could they possibly want from him. 

“Shit, Nines, it's ok, sit down,” Kelston grabbed at him, wrestling to get Nines’ suit jacket off. “You’re hot.”

“Emotions,” Nines gasped, falling to his knees when he tried to move, processors overloaded. “Too much.”

Kelston turned him, forcing Nines against the back of his desk. He was on his knees too, concerned. “Breath, Nines. You’re having a panic attack.”

“No, I--”

“Breath, stop thinking, breath.”

Nines tried, he did, but it only came out in short tight gasps. His stress wasn’t decreasing, thoughts cycling over the machine he’d been. How close he was to Connor and Hank. What if the Davis brothers found him? What if there had been a command hidden in his code to kill all on sight? 

“Nines, Nines,” Kelston’s voice broke through the fog. Nines didn’t remember closing his eyes, peering into worried gray above him. Kelston cupped his face, turning it towards him. “Focus on only me. Me. I’m not going anywhere.”

Nines reached out, grabbing onto his superior’s arms. Giving his systems something to scan, redirect processing power, calmed his racing RAM. Slowly, the cortisol tapered off, anxiety dropping. He breathed through it, trying not to mind how long it was taking, that someone might need Kelston right now and send himself into another spiral. 

“That’s it, Nines. One breath at a time.”

It took time, but Nines slackened his hold, hands falling at his sides, going lax, tired after the emotional exertion.

“You can go home,” Kelston said, reaching up for his keys. “Take the car. I can get a taxi back.”

“No,” Nines pushed the keys back towards him. “I’m fine. I can stay.”

“Nines, you look like you can’t even stand,” Kelston said, firm and commanding. 

“I’m fine.”

“I would feel better if you--”

“I’m not human!”

“I’d do this for anyone else,” Kelston kept going, not minding the outburst. “There isn’t anything else for you to do today anyway. Take them. Go home. I’ll try not to be back too late.”

Nines had half a mind to continue to refuse till he tried to push Kelston away and had no strength in his arms, processors still rerouting Thirium to vital overheated systems. 

Kelston grabbed a hand, setting his keys in Nines’ palm. “Go home.”

“Fine,” Nines grabbed the keys, accepting Kelston’s help to stand. He was a little wobbly, needing a moment for his equilibrium to return. “I’ll make up the time.”

“Sounds good.”

*

Nines woke to the sound of the front door opening. He didn’t really remember falling asleep in his bed, but his room was awash of yellows with the setting sun outside. 

“Kelston?” He asked, turning onto his side, door open to the hallway. The human was standing in his doorway, suit jacket gone and the first few buttons on his shirt undone. “Welcome home,” Nines said, refusing to let his eyes linger on the exposed skin.

Without saying a word, his superior entered into his living space, taking an experimental knee on Nines’ bed. 

“Kelston,” Nines said, a warning in his voice, systems still taxed from the emotional output earlier. “What are you doing?”

It was as if Kelston knew Nines wasn’t back at full power. He reached out, grabbing onto Nines, dragging him across the bed. Not an easy feat with how much Nines now weighed. 

“Kelston, what are you doing?!”

“Breathe,” he said, reaching up for Nines’ still done up slacks. Nines, shocked by the turn, didn’t react at first. His pants and underwear were half way down his thighs when he jumped into action. He grabbed at the man but his hands instead landed on broad shoulders, letting the human work his garments off his legs. 

Nines struggled against the human, body not cooperating with his commands, flustered and quickly becoming aroused, to his horror. “What are you doing?!”

“Breathe,” he repeated. His larger hands captured Nines’ batting against him uselessly, using his leverage over the androids to pin his hands up over his head. “You’ve got this, don’t worry.”

Using a single hand to lock his wrists in place, Kelston’s free hand wandered down over Nines’ button up, Thirium pump and down to the genital component Nines did everything in himself to avoid touching, looking at, or interacting with. 

“Wait, n— mmmhhh,” Kelston was kissing him, shutting him up effectively. The hand stayed at the base of his component, not touching it. Nines’ serotonin and dopamine sky rocked at the promise of touch, activating the thing. Nines grit through the redirect of Thirium, bucking his hips to try and get Kelston off him, giving him stimulation he didn’t want. 

He fought against the rising hormones, tried to combat the feelings they invoked, only to stress his systems further. Nines lay back, gritting his teeth as Kelston didn’t quite touch him, but kissed down the column of his neck, soft intermingled touches with a bite here and there. The unpredictability lit his software deliciously as it tried to guess what he would do next.

“Let yourself feel,” Kelston whispered into his audio processors, Nines moaning at the deeper tenor of the human’s matching arousal. 

“Kel-- Kelston,” Nines begged, the human returning to the kissing. 

“I’ve got you,” Kelston promised, squeezing his wrists in a quiet command to not move them. Both his hands unbuttoned Nines’ shirt, pushing it to the side to assault his nipples. Nines bucked, crying out at the contact. 

It’d been so long since anyone dare touch him like this, all the hormones making it feel like the first time. Nines didn’t know what to do with himself, shaking and bucking his hips up against Kelston’s thigh, trying his hardest to not push himself too quickly over the approaching cliff, scared of himself.

“Kelston,” he whispered in a plea, tears building in the corner of his eyes from the rising pleasure. This was so unlike the attachment he’d used with Gavin. This was a foreign, tangible, nuanced beast. It demanded attention unrelentingly till the ultimate end. “I can’t-- please!”

“Breathe,” he repeated, still not touching Nines where he despised he needed it the most. 

Nines tried, but it riled him up more. A particularly hard bite and pinch to his nipple sent Nines over the edge with a gasp. 

Nines jolted awake, systems in turmoil as he came back online. He was on his stomach, hips bucking through his orgasm, back bowing under the pleasure. He moaned, feeling the squelsh of what must be his cum, wet and relieving some of the friction from his pants. 

Breathing through his nose till his systems righted themselves, Nines took stalk of what’d happened. He’d been dreaming that Kelston was… pleasuring him. His own body reacted to the dream favorably. It was the first time Nines had ever had this happen. Lagging as Thirium redirected from his gential component, he slowly got himself up out of bed, taking in the sizable wet patch running down the side of his slacks. He made his way into the bathroom, dazed and confused. 

He shucked off his pants and underwear, taking stock of the milky white substance sticking to the cloth. He didn’t need the analysis software to tell him what the synthetic cum was, or that it belonged to him, but it helped to know nonetheless. 

Nines grabbed a new set of bottoms, dressing methodically. 

Why had he dreamed of Kelston in such a sexual way? Was this an added layer of hell the engineers programmed into him? He searched through the code base locked to any tampering from him, but nothing came of it. Sitting on the damp patch on his bed, refusing to acknowledge why it was there, he grabbed at a pillow, throwing his face into it. 

The one aspect of his new anatomy he thought he had control over, shattered. He screamed into the pillow, not fighting against his cortisol from spiking and climbing. How dare he feel pleasure from the thing that hurt Gavin! How could he dream of Kelston, who was being understanding and helpful, as a partner? He screamed again in frustration. 

When would he catch a break?! When would things get better? When would this not be so raw? How had Gavin gotten over all of this in only a short six months? Nines was five months in and felt like he would never be whole again. 

Screaming into his pillow, that’s how Kelston found him. 

“Nines?! Hey, hey,” Kelston didn’t touch but hovered, concerned. “Breath, Nines, let it out.”

Nines didn’t have the processing power to tell his roommate to leave. Shame burned hot, a scream cut off by a sob. He couldn’t stop the tears once they started. Kelston graduated to the bed, grabbing at Nines and the pillow, but Nines refused to give up his refuge. He redirected what little strength he had left to holding onto to the feather filled fabric.

“It’s ok, this is good. Get it out, but breath, Nines, you’re really hot,” Kelston said, hands not able to sit against Nines for long.

Nines tried his hardest to do as instructed, letting Kelston lead him. As with all the other times, the human’s presence calmed Nines, listening and letting his words calm him. Feeling selfish and physically vulnerable, he lifted himself from the pillow, coming to face Kelston. His brows were pinched, a small smile pulling at his lips. 

“Hey,” he whispered. 

Nines tried to match the smile. “Hey.”

“Anything set this off?”

Nines shook his head, not feeling bad about the lie. “Just felt low.”

“Is there anything else I can do?” Kelston asked, searching Nines’ face for a hint, a sign. 

Falling into the weakness, Nines nodded, leaning forward a little, a universal gesture humans understood. Kelston was no different, arms coming up and grabbing Nines, pulling him into a hug. Nines didn’t fight the last few tears, going as limp as he could against Kelston without weighing the man down completely. 

Kelston held him, no words needed. His hand gently rubbed at Nines’ back, trying his hardest to comfort. Nines accepted the gesture willingly, nuzzling up against his shoulder without concern. 

They sat together till Kelston’s stomach growled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Nines said, starting to pull back, only for Kelston to hold him in place. 

“My stomach can wait. This isn’t about me, right now.”

“It’s ok,” Nines insisted, strong enough to break through the human’s hold without difficulty. “Thank you. I just want to sleep.” Nines didn’t meet his roommates searching gaze, fiddling with his own fingers. 

“Ok. Let me know if you need anything,” Kelston got back to his feet, walking funny as blood returned to his lower extremities. “Have a good night, Nines.”

“You too.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nines silently stewed in his self disgust. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey~ We back at it again~!
> 
> Enjoy!!

The dreams didn’t stop. The sexual turn was not welcome. Nines would rather his dreams return to the nightmares of his past transgressions, a reminder of what he didn’t deserve. Not a constant reminder of his growing affection for his roommate and superior. Nines’ pre construction and reconstruction worked in tandem to make the dreams feel real and intimate. Any touch and reassuring word in the waking world by Kelston was perverted in the dreams. Nines couldn’t reach ejaculation again, instead waking hard and wanting. 

His enjoyable hot morning showers turned into frigid reminders of his shame. He had to sit under the freezing spray longer to force his dopamine back under acceptable levels, the softening component freeing up Thirium for other more vital systems. Disgusted in his synthetic hormones activating systems he loathed, Nines did everything short of ripping the component off his pelvic plate to try and stop the forced redirect of Thirium. 

Nines silently stewed in his self disgust. 

He stopped talking to all the others at work, to avoid upsetting Geanna, the social butterfly that she was. She required far more interaction from the base of her code than Nines did. He only needed orders. 

He kept his distance from Kelston at home. Their TV watching after work coming to a screeching halt. Nines isolated himself in his room, running his processors ragged, trying to understand what he could do differently. How to make the dreams stop. Only to wake the next morning with a problem he refused to acknowledge attached to him. Out of his control.

The digitally constructed Kelston couldn’t really do anything in the dreams, Nines’ systems hadn’t accumulated enough information in concern to his new genitals for touch to be explored. One morning, frustrated from the lack of physical release and weak from the seething self rage, Nines beat and tore at his pillows. He didn’t know where else to put all the pent up energy. 

“Nines?” Kelston asked, the door opened just a little, the man’s fresh white shirt half buttoned, breathing elevated as he looked at the cotton and microbeads all over the room. Nines couldn’t recall forty seconds of time, terrified how out of control it left him. Kelston had worked him back down off the edge, Nines breaking down in his arms. The release of emotion was welcome, but Nines didn’t change his behavior towards Kelston afterwards, to the humans continued confusion. 

On weekends, Nines wandered around Detroit with North by his side. She kept him talking, engaged, keeping the hope of coming across one or both of the Davis brothers at bay. He wasn’t sure what he would do to them if they did happen across the men on these walks. He was sure North wouldn’t stop him and that it wouldn’t be pretty. 

Nines fantasized about the brothers taking him again. Wipe his memories away, take the pain and suffering. Bring the machine back. Revenge would only get him so far. Robert would rather kill himself than remove any of the work he and the other engineers placed into Nines. Leaving Nines back at square one with this alien body he found himself in. 

Anything other than this. He came back to the apartment every weekend, still himself, still empty handed. Still falling for his roommate. 

He ignored a tabloid tablet that someone left on his desk at work, the front page a distant but clear picture of him and North walking together, the words in bright yellow text  _ ‘The Lovely Nines moving on with a Leader of Jericho?!’ _ and in smaller text under that,  _ ‘how he was pushed into the arms of another, pg. 25’ _

Nines threw it away, Elgan covering his mouth to poorly hide his smile. “Sorry, it was too funny to--”

“Please keep things professional in the workplace,” Nines spat, sitting in his chair, refusing to move till Kelston came and got him when it was time to go back home. 

*

North scoffed, hitting Nines’ shoulder as she leaned forward to accept Kelston’s offer of Thirium. 

“You know,” she shuffled to put her legs under her, the picture of comfort in the small living room. “I played along when Josh questioned me on the article. I’ve never seen him go pale before!” She cackled, slapping her knee. “It was too easy!”

“It’s not funny, North,” Nines spat, stress rising. “Some people really believe what is being published in those--”

“Hey, calm down,” she ordered him, mood crashing to land next to his. “Fuck what they have to say or think!”

“She has a point,” Kelston said, sipping at his sparkling water. “I know you, I know that isn’t real.”

Nines turned to him, brow raised. “Oh? How?”

“Well, one, you’re as gay as they come,” Kelston said matter-of-factly. “And two, North would probably only have sex with you after she killed you.”

It was a line Kelston was stepping over on only his first meeting with North and Nines reared up to defend her, “Kels--” 

Till North bursted out into hysterical laughter, forced to put her drink down or risk spilling it. “He isn’t wrong!” She insisted at Nines’ bewilderment. She calmed, eyes going distant. “Forget about it, Nines,” she said, eyes drawing up to his. “This isn't a battle you’ll win. Let them write whatever they please. Just know, that those who matter, those who care, know that the tabloids are wrong.”

Nines accepted it in the moment, allowing the conversation to flow around him as Kelston and North got to know one another a little better. He contributed here and there, giving when needed. Kelston would occasionally touch his shoulder or upper arm, a silent request to assure the human Nines was ok with everything. He’d started doing it at work and it had moved into their home lives. Nines gave him a look or a small nod in return each time, completely comfortable. 

North seemed infatuated trying to pull any little bit of information out of Nines’ superior he’d be willing to give in regards to the Reformers cult, which wasn’t much. It turned into a game of twenty questions that Nines happily sat between, head ping pong back and forth as questions were shot from North and either evaded or given simple answers by Kelston. 

“I know it’s late,” North said as the clock ticked over towards midnight. “I should start heading back before Simon worries.”

“I don’t know if you could stop that if you tried,” Nines joked, walking her to the door. She pulled him outside into the hallway, taking Nines off guard. She held the door open by a crack. 

“I really like him,” North said with a genuine smile. “I think he’s good for you, Nines.”

Nines’ systems came to a halt, shuttering under the innuendo of North’s untimely confession. “What are you talking about?” He breathed, hoping upon hope it wasn’t what he thought she meant. 

“The way you two interact? The caring touches? Are you dating already and you didn’t tell me?!” North stage whispered, playfully hitting at Nines. He defended easily, shaking his head, serious. 

“No. I don’t deserve that.”

North scoffed. “Who told you that?”

“Told me what?”

“That you don’t deserve a relationship with him?”

Nines paused, the way the question was phrased giving him pause. “Myself?”

North grabbed his face, forcing Nines to look at her. “Why would you tell yourself that?”

Nines laid one of his hands over Norths, giving her a sad smile. “I barely have control of my emotions on the best of days, North. I’m happy Kelston has been willing to help me, but no one deserves this.”

North’s brows drew up, hurt. “Nines,” she whispered, concerned. “I know you and… him, went through it with the engineers but… you still deserve to be loved. Love never comes at the best times, and you will never be the best version of yourself when it lands in your lap. Please, don’t stop your own growth. Let go, take a risk.”

“I’ve done such horrible things,” he whispered, feeling tears prickling at his eyes painfully. 

“That wasn’t  _ you _ . It might have been this body, but that wasn’t  _ you _ . You would never do that to him. You have to believe that.”

“I feel it, sometimes, when it comes to me in my dreams,” Nines admitted quietly. “Like I did it. I could have stopped them but I couldn’t.”

“Fuck, Nines,” she pulled him down into a hug. “It’s all in your dreams. It’s going to be ok.” He accepted the hug, wrapping her up into his arms.

He let her go before he was ready too, not wanting to burden her any more than he had already. North waved, “if you need to talk or anything, please reach out!” she said from the end of the hallway before turning and heading for the elevators. 

Nines stood outside for a moment to collect himself before unlocking the door and walking back in. He didn’t move at first, hearing Kelston cleaning their glasses in the kitchen. He wasn’t sure what kept him in place, something weighing him down, slowing his processors. It was warm, bubbly, almost. 

“Ok,” Kelston said, leaning on the wall separating the front door and kitchen, arms crossed over his chest. “What’s going on, Nines? You’ve been standing there for almost five minutes. Did tonight not go how you wanted?”

Nines paused. Trapped in slow thoughts, the warm feeling blossoming to his fingers and toes. He took a calming breath, eyes refusing to move any higher than the human’s sock clad feet. “I have this… feeling?”

Kelston pushed himself off the wall, keeping his distance but curious. “Feeling?”

“I’m fine,” Nines said, the lie hollow to his own audio processors. He trampled the warmness growing in his processors, leaving a hollow ache in its wake. “I’m sure it’ll pass.”

Kelston didn’t move when Nines tried to pass by him to his bedroom. The human’s heart rate spiked but he refused to move. He puffed his chest out, gray flint holding steady. 

“Please move,” Nines asked, his tone hollow. 

“No. You can’t handle what’s weighing you down by yourself. Talk.”

Nines was thrown back to an argument he’d had with Gavin, about opening up on issues that involved them both. How Nines couldn’t let him in, worried for Gavin’s mental health. 

How that argument had ended. The night spent mending his wrongs to the man he loved in physical passion.

Nines took a step back, feeling like the breath was knocked from him at the power of the memory as it replayed behind his eyelids. He was strung too tight, his body reacting faster than he could keep up with. He was half-hard in what felt like the blink of an eye. 

“Nines? Nines! What’s wrong?” Kelston reached out, grabbing at his shoulders to steady him. 

Nines fisted a hand in his shirt over his Thirium pump, the sudden load shift to his now filling cock dangerously lowering the pressure, pump skipping a beat. He groaned at the physical contact, soaking up the human’s warmth, concerned hands reaching for his neck and torso to help support him. 

“Is it your chest? Is something wrong there?” Kelston continued to ask, concerned. “Breath, Nines, you’re heating up.”

Nines tried to catch his breath, the feeling of tightly bound wires in his chest familiar in only his recent dreams. The redirect of Thirium leaving his systems to start heating past the acceptable levels. 

“You need to sit,” Kelston ordered, dragging Nines towards the couch. He set Nines down, making sure the android was leaning back in what he viewed to be a comfortable position. One of his hands was by Nines’ head, resting on the back of the couch to lean over him, worried for the state of his android roommate. The other hovering, trying to think of what was needed. 

Nines’ hands reacted before he had the thought to do it. He caught Kelston’s shirt, keeping the human pinned over him. 

“Nines?” 

It was so similar a position to Nines’ first dream, it burned his Thirium hot, making him pant to try and cool his systems another way. North’s permission to move on, Gavin’s clear motivations to move past the pain Nines has inflicted while erased from this body, unlocked something deep inside Nines he hadn’t known was there. He’d given Gavin permission to move on months ago, but made himself suffer quietly. 

Their eyes met, concerned gray with blue iced lust. Kelston wasn’t stupid. His eyes searched all over Nines, knowing now what to look for, landing on the tent in the android’s sweatpants. They caught there. He was a human man, he understood the implications very well. Kelston caught Nines’ eyes again, meeting the lust with his own. 

“Is this what you’ve wanted?” Kelston asked, shifting so he was that much closer to Nines, yet not quite touching him. “You could have told me, Nines. I’ve thought about this too.”

Nines knew if he talked, if he gave himself the time to think about it, it would be too late. His hands tugged at the other’s shirt, arching up.

That was the trigger the human needed. Kelston lunged at him, their mouths meeting in a hungry dance of lips. Nines moaned into the contact, touch starved after so long without a passionate touch. After months of feeling undesirable to himself, and shame of his new body, to have confirmation that another was willing to have him did wonders for him. The load shifted, lightening as Kelston cupped his cheek, gentle hands and hungry lips. His hands held onto Kelston with everything he had, worried that the human would rethink this if given the chance. 

Kelston pulled away, more teeth than lips running down to bite viciously at the column of Nines’ neck. He tried to leave a trail of love marks, which he would be unsuccessful in. It didn’t seem to matter, his larger body thrusting down against Nines, hungry for more. 

Nines grabbed at the other’s faded band tee with numb fingers, panting through the heightened sensations. The dreams held nothing to the real thing and Nines was ready to take in those differences and write a thesis on it after. Kelston pulled away with a growl, ripping his own shirt off his torso, grabbing at Nines’ shirt next and throwing it somewhere on the hardwood. Nines arched up to lessen the distance, the human descending on his synthetic nipples. 

“God, fucking shit, Nines,” Kelston’s whole mouth came over a pink nub, his other coming up and twisting its twin harshly.

Able to now feel pain, Nines hissed, squirming as the smarting dissipated into pleasure. He tried to rock his hips up against the human, get friction on his new cock, but Kelston wasn’t posed to do that until he wanted to grace the android with pleasure. 

One moment Nines was upright and pushed up against the back cushion of the couch, in the next he was horizontal, Kelston still over top of him.

“I don’t bottom,” Kelston said, descending back down to kiss and nip at the skin just above Nines’ pants. His gray eyes peered up at the ice blue watching him. “That ok?”

Nines only nodded, unable to make a word at this point. He helped Kelston, lifting his hips as the human grabbed at the stretchy band and slipped that along with the underwear off his hips. Kelston pulled the cloth down his long legs, pausing at his knees to kiss each one. The human held synthetic ankles up by his shoulders, he kissed the inside of each reverently. He mirrored the kisses all the way till he was laying on his stomach, mouth dangerously close to Nines’ cock. 

Nines felt like he was losing his mind, one hand fisted in his mouth trying to control the inhuman sounds he was making. The other up over his head, grabbing at the edge of the couch cushion. The sensations were thousands of times more powerful than the attachment he’d used with Gavin. Each gentle touch was an earthquake and kiss a flood. He couldn’t even imagine what that mouth wrapped around him was about to feel like.

“You’re so beautiful,” Kelston muttered against the side of Nines member, making him jump at the contact. 

“Oh,  _ fuck _ ,” Nines threw his other hand up over his head, joining the other. “Please!” He begged as the human gently wrapped a fist around the synthetic cock, stroking Nines carefully. 

“Of course, hun,” Kelston said like a prayer. 

Nines eyes flew open, mouth dropping open and back arching as the first contact with the human’s tongue on his glad crested him into his first willing orgasm. He grabbed at anything he could, trying to ground himself, breathing coming in short ragged gasps. Kelston’s eyes locked with his, surprised but blown wide, clearly enjoying the show. 

Nines fell back onto the couch, panting as his systems were flooded with the rerouted Thirium to help cool desperate systems. 

“Well,” Kelston said after swallowing. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever gotten a partner off,” he chuckled. “You feeling better?”

Nines didn’t answer, switching to lay on his stomach, propped up on his knees. He peered over his shoulder, enjoying the way the human’s jaw went slack, his pajama bottoms tented. 

“Oh, shit, you sure?” Kelston grabbed softy at the androids ass, kneading at the fleshy give. Nines moaned his assent, wigging himself a little to clear any further issues. “God, look at this,” a pad of a finger ran over the pucker of a hole that Nines hadn’t thought to discover for himself. “One sec,” Kelston left from between Nines’ legs, footsteps padding over to his bedroom. 

Nines lazily reached between his legs, not giving himself the chance to think about his actions. He slowly started to pump at his flaccid component, starting up the synthetic hormones and redirection of Thirium over the components that’d had long enough to recover from the last orgamsim. Nines didn’t fight it, letting himself enjoy each new sensation, experiencing it all for the first time with Kelston. He wanted more, it felt  _ good _ . 

Kelston was back in the next moment, throwing a few items down on the coffee table. 

“Gonna eat you out till you cum on my tongue,” Kelston assured, seeing the way Nines scanned over the bottle of lube, condom and cock ring. 

God, and did Kelston deliver. The human hadn’t shaved, the bristles of his morning stubble rubbing against the far more sensitive nerves over Nines taint and back of his new balls. His tongue wasted no time rimming and diving into the never before used orifice. Nines tried to pull away, over stimulated, but Kelston grabbed at his hips, completely in control of the stronger being weak to the mounting pleasure.

Nines let himself feel, even if it was too much. He didn’t mind the tears, whimpers or cries as Kelston started adding fingers, holding Nines open so his tongue could get just that much further. Nines startled when Kelston grabbed around Nines hand, squeezing and leading him to touch himself faster. 

“Kel--” Nines moaned, digging his face into the cushion under him, biting through the growing pleasure. “Kelston, I-- I’m going--!”

“Do it,” he ordered, diving back in just in time to feel Nines clench down on his tongue, ass twitching in time with the spurts of cum Nines’ body squeezed from him as the second orgasm ripped through his systems. 

Kelston went only a little longer with his fingers, riding Nines through the twitching and gasps for air before removing contact all together. 

Nines felt small and used. He liked feeling small sometimes. Used, not so much. He reached blindly behind him, scanning software still coming back online after round two. “Kelston?” He didn’t want the human to walk away, not yet. 

“I’m here,” he promised, hand resting briefly on Nines, quickly pulling away. “You ok? Do you need anything?”

“Fuck me,” Nines ordered, lifting his hips into the air to entise. 

“You are really hot to the touch, Nines,” Kelston said, laying a hand on Nines’ ass, having to remove it after only a second. “Your sweat is coming off you in steam. Not sure my dick is gonna like being in that.”

Nines growled in frustration, thinking as fast as he could with hot processors. “Shower?”

Kelston chuckled. “A cold shower is so hot,” the human muttered against his hair. “Great for boners. Just give yourself a few minutes, I’m not going anywhere.”

Nines was desperate, not wanting the dark thoughts to come back to him and ruin this one good thing. “Please, Kel, I need it!”

He chuckled, surprised. “I appreciate the energy, Nines, but one of the things of being human is giving your body the time to-- Whoa!” 

Nines flipped himself around completely, face scrunched up against the raging hardon of the human. “I’m not human. I can take care of you,” he insisted, reaching for Kelston’s sweatpants. 

“Nines, relax!” Kelston ordered, grabbing at him for short bursts, instinctively forced to let the overheated android go. “You’re hot!”

Nines pulled away, desperate and on the verge of bursting into tears for another reason entirely. 

“Hey, hey,” Kelston’s hands carded through his hair, pulling it up to force eye contact. “What’s up? Where is this coming from?”

“Don’t want to think,” Nines begged. 

“You have to process issues, Nines. You can’t run from them forever.”

“No, please,” Nines reached for his waistband again. “Not now.”

“Nines,” Kelston’s voice dropped into that more superior tone, a needy whine escaping Nines before he could stop it. “You’ve been good, so far. Was that your first sexual experience?”

“No.”

“It feels like it,” Kelston challenged. 

“Haven’t touched-- I didn’t want to use the genital component they gave me,” he whispered. “I don’t want to use anything they gave me.”

Kelston’s demeanor fell at the admission, understanding the predicament. He leaned forward, peppering kisses over Nines’ shoulder and cheek. “We can stop, if you want.”

“No. I don’t want it and yet… I crave it.”

Kelston snorted. “Welcome to being human.”

Nines didn’t acknowledge the comment, instead he brushed the back of his hand against the clothed, waning erection in his line of sight. Kelston moaned, hands rushing down to grab at Nines’ wrist. 

“Fucking hell, Nines,” he cursed, pushing up, using the android as leverage. “Ok, hold on.” He reached over for the lube, the pop of the cap loud in the tentative quiet. 

Nines watched, the clear liquid falling over a few of the humans fingers. He rubbed his thumb over it, warming the slick, thinking of Nines’ comfort. How sweet. Their eyes met, Kelston giving him a cocky smile.

“Just you wait. Turn back around, how you were before.” 

Nines hummed, getting into position. He lifted his hips up without much effort. Being an android had its perks. Kelston grabbed at him with one hand, moving a cheek to the side. The other hand came up, rubbing slowly around the opening he was now intimately familiar with orally. The first finger had no resistance so the second was added soon after. 

Nines hissed a little there, trying to understand the push and pull of both the pleasure and the pain. 

“You ok? Need me to go slower?”

“No, don’t stop!”

Kelston chuckled, dual fingers rubbing in and out of Nines slowly. “Ok, boss.”

It took some time, but eventually a third finger joined the dance, then a fourth as well, for good measure. Nines was a hard, whinny mess on the couch, hips doing most of the work of gyrating on the fingers in his ass. 

“Fuck, I can’t hold back anymore,” Kelston said, hand pausing Nines’ self pleasure. “I’m gonna--”

Nines saw him reaching for the condom. “Don’t. Don’t wear it.”

Kelston paused, mind running as fast as his own straining erection would let him. “I don’t want you to have to clean up--”

“Feed it to me, after,” Nines said with what he hoped was a sassy smile. Kelston’s already blown eyes went almost entirely black. 

“Fuck, ok, yeah. Fuck! Ok, here we go,” Kelston ripped his sweats off, scooting right up behind Nines, thighs touching as the blunt head of his slicked up cock rubbed up and down the cleft of the androids ass. Slowly, Kelston pushed in, both men groaning at the intrusion. The human grabbed at synthetic hips, snapping his hips forward at the same time he pulled said hips back towards him. It was a little brutal, the air knocked from Nines as the human’s cock brushed up against something inside him, making stars light up behind his eyes. 

He quickly reached back, grabbing at Kelston’s wrist. “Kelston!”

“Oh fuck, baby. You’re so fucking  _ tight _ !”

Nines moaned at the complement, unable to keep his eyes from rolling back as Kelston slowly pulled back, several inches of his cock brushing against the sensitive bundle of nerves he didn’t know existed. The head of his dick hit the bundle, making Nines twitch and the human snapped his hips forward again, the drag making him grunt with the wave of pleasure. 

“There-- something-- again!”

Kelston bowed over, kissing at Nines’ shoulders. “Prostate?”

Nines lagged to look up the anatomy. “Fuck, yes.”

“Where?” Kelston dragged out a little further, past the point. 

“No, no, deeper,” Nines punished the cushion in his hands as the human dragged him back onto his dick up to the root. “Oooh, fuck!” 

“I’ll find it and slowly pull you apart,” Kelston whispered, trying to find the exact point with the tip of his dick. It was like he was checking the oil in his car, trying to find just the right point, till he did. “Oh, shit, right there?” Kelston bumped into it and if it weren’t for him holding Nines up against him, the androids legs would have given out under the waves of pleasure. “That’s closer than most,” Kelston admitted. “Oh well, this’ll be fun.”

Nines wasn’t sure what the human’s definition of fun was, but for the next several minutes, he plowed right into Nines’ synthetic prostate. Nines was a crying, slobbering mess, holding on to anything around him to keep his processors from flying out of his body. 

Kelston changed his pace, going from short hard thrusts to plunging his cock as far into Nines as possible, no more than rutting into him for a short few thrusts before he grabbed at Nines arms. His arms hooked up and around Nines, palms flat on the androids shoulder, chest flush against Nines’ back. Nines grabbed at the other’s forearms, happy to have the pressure on his torso, helping him stay grounded in the moment. Tied around one another, and with a better grip on his partner, Kelston didn’t hold back. His rutting morphed into long hard strokes, panting and moaning. Nines’s chest was lifted off the couch, forcing his further back against Kelston with no control of his own, ripping a continual cry from the android. 

“I’m gonna cum,” Kelston warned through a harsh pant, losing his rhythm quickly. “Fuck! Nines-- I’m-- where--?”

“In me!” Nines begged, so close to the edge of his third orgasm himself. 

Kelston spilled into him with a loud groan, still fucking him through it. The combination of foreign warmth and the dragging against his prostate was enough to tumble Nines over again. Slowly, Kelston laid him back down, his skin where they’d been touching bright red from the heat. Nines got a warning that his Thirium levels were significantly depleting through his new sweat system and he’d need more soon, or stop his strenuous activity. 

Both men collapsed where they were, breathing heavily. Slowly, Kelston pulled out with an oversensitive hiss, Nines feeling something wet started to leave his hole and pass down his taint and balls. A finger was quick to nuzzle at it, stopping it from reaching the couch. Kelston slowly ran his finger up through his seed, trying to put it back in Nines. 

Nines turned at the hip, opening his mouth as a quiet request. 

“Oh, fuck, that’s right.” Kelston grabbed more on his fingers, reaching up to feed it to Nines. “You a cum slut?”

Nines sucked on his fingers, humming in appreciation. Kelston’s information popped up on his HUD, but he closed it quickly. Kelston fed him everything, a fairly significant amount, till it was gone. 

Kelston bent down, Nines’ mouth sanitized before the human kissed him. “That was so fucking hot.”

Nines hummed, pulling him back down for another kiss. “Indeed it was.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He stabbed a piece of chicken, admiring the perfect grill marks. “What has you thinking so hard, sweetheart?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bit of a switch up here. The calm before the storm, if you will. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

Hank munched on his grilled chicken salad Connor made him for dinner. The homemade ranch was apparently low calorie but it sure didn't taste like it. Eating was a mindless task when living with someone who didn’t need to do it. Hank tried to get it down as fast as possible to get back to the joint time he and Connor shared together outside of work hours. He refused to let the android sit and watch him, creeped him the hell out. 

Tonight was a little different. Hank watched Connor’s profile sitting on the couch. His LED was faced away from Hank, but reflected off the living room window from this perspective. He was trying real hard to seem like he was enjoying the show Hank put on for the night, so preoccupied with whatever was making the light at his temple burn bright red, he’d missed the one little detail. 

“Connor,” Hank called, having had enough as the episode came to a close and had no idea what had happened. 

Connor jerked, surprised to be addressed. His LED dropped back down to yellow as his big brown eyes peered over his shoulder to Hank, trying to be coy. He knew he was caught, trying to play it off like it was nothing. 

“Yes, Hank?”

He stabbed a piece of chicken, admiring the perfect grill marks. “What has you thinking so hard, sweetheart?” 

Connor’s brows knit. Hank only pulled out sweetheart when he was bordering trouble. “I don’t--”

“Your LED,” Hank said, biting into the chicken. “It was red. Does something have you particularly stressed?”

Connor bit his lower lip. Hank wasn’t sure where he’d learned it from, but it was a particular weak point for the human. Hank hadn’t known what would be waiting for him on the other side when he waited out in the cold in front of Chicken Feed almost two years ago. How he’d almost messed up the best thing to land in his arms since Cole. If anyone told him he’d be in domestic bliss with a machine that was known to kill without remorse, he’d laugh in their face before punching it. 

Connor moved, putting a leg up under himself, arms coming up to rest up against the back of the couch, chin resting there. “Nines and Gavin.”

Hank held back rolling his eyes. “Ok. What about them?”

Connor paused for a long time, the android spending a considerable amount of time trying to formulate his thoughts. “Sometimes the guilt that they went through such a horrible thing together and they didn’t… come out whole.”

“You mean in a relationship together after everything?”

Connor nodded, not meeting his eyes. 

“Connor, you and Markus tried everything at your disposal to try and break that red wall. You searched for so long for anyone else associated with the project who might have known about the hard drive. You can’t keep beating yourself up over all this.”

“I know,” he whispered, fingers playing with a loose thread on the seam of the cushion. “It hits me differently every time. The things we could do to get them together in a similar space and talking again.” 

Hank played with the last few leaves of his dinner, the topic robbing him of his hunger. He’d been all in with Connor, at first. Get Nines back up and running, rather than the machine that only listened to explicit orders. Until Hank had to wake Gavin from a bad nightmare while watching over him when he was still recovering. He’d begged Hank not to let the machine near him, crying into his shoulder over the loss of his once lover. 

He didn’t have the heart to tell Connor about it, worried how the android who took on the worries of the world would handle the information. Gavin seemed to quietly thank Hank in his own way, mostly by not fighting him on taking meds and the willingness to sleep when Hank was the only one in the apartment. 

“What did that brain of yours think up this time?” Hank asked. 

“Each of us goes to the mall with them. ‘Accidently’,” he quoted with his fingers, “running into one another.”

Hank snorted. “How would we even trick them?”

“You haven’t spent a lot of time with Nines after we moved him in and I do worry that I wasn’t able to figure out who the roommate was… but you can say you want to spend some quality time with him. I know he will take it willingly without much pushing.” He bit his lip. “It would be much harder to do it with Gavin. We see each other all the time at work, so it will need to be a very good reason.”

“Could go out buying things for the significant others,” Hank muttered, wincing when Connor’s eyes snapped to him.

“Oh, that’s true!”

Hank grabbed his bowl, cleaning it real quick. He rested his weight against the side of the couch when he was done, towering over Connor. The android peered up at him through his eyelashes, puppy eyes in full effect. Hank groaned, knowing Connor was pulling out the big guns for a reason. 

“I’m not playing into this little crack shot plan of yours,” he said, patting the android’s cheek a little harsher than he could a humans. “But,” he took his normal seat next to Connor, the android immediately shifting himself to lean against the side of Hank. “I understand the thoughts. They… creep up. What you could have done differently.”

“Oh, Hank,” Connor nuzzled into his neck, laying a few soft kisses there. “I didn’t mean to--”

“Don’t worry, you didn’t,” Hank patted his ass, Connor backing off to take in Hank’s expression. “I’ve been through it, Connor. You pulled me out of it and I was three years in. I know we are coming up on a year soon, but you can’t finagle a fix between two people who have been through something as traumatic as they have. Especially when Gavin thought Nines was gone for good. You need to leave them be.”

“I swear I can get it right though,” Connor mumbled, eyes downcast at his hands in his lap. 

“I don’t think you can,” Hank admitted, ready to take on the angry glare he got for his honesty. 

“Excuse me?”

He sighed, rubbing at his neck. “That isn’t a front against you or your capabilities, Connor,” he patted the android's knee. “You can’t just slowly manipulate people into doing what you want. It’s kinda fucked.”

“It's not that,” Connor said, scooting away from Hank to create some distance so he could think. “They won’t be able to heal properly apart from one another.”

“Oh? What gives you that impression?”

“Gavin hasn’t moved out of the apartment, subconsciously hoping that Nines comes back home,” He said, holding onto a finger. “Two,” another finger, “Nines’ mental state has always relied heavily on Gavin’s support. I know it isn’t healthy,” Connor raised a hand to cut Hank off. “But it’s true. I worry that without Gavin, he will fall into something unhealthy to try and either forget or find his own kind of new control.”

Hank waved a hand between them. “Wait, what’re you talking about?”

Connor bit his lip, debating for a moment. He seemed to settle on telling Hank, a concerned kind of excitement taking a hold of him. Connor leaned into the space he’d created, hands held out in front of him. “I believe the reason he’s been so secretive about his living situation is that it isn’t a standard roommate. To delve a little into what he’d told me in the past on his and Gavin’s relationship, there was a BDSM element that both found pleasure in. Nines found control in commanding Gavin and his sexual life.”

“Ugh, come on,” Hank groused, making a face.

“I wouldn’t mention it out of spite, I have a point,” Connor shifted with restless energy. “I bring that up to say that with all his new systems, the old benchmark has been taken from him. Nothing to tether himself to. Nines might find himself in a less than ideal sexual situation to find it again.”

“Going back to what worked before,” Hank said in understanding.

“Exactly. He talks to me less and less, though I do believe there is an element of the cult case taking a significant part of his time. I worry more that he has found himself a partner to command him.”

Hank hummed, “really?”

“Yes, absolutely. It’s the highest probable cause as to why he refuses to answer my questions.”

“Could also be he wants some time to be away from us after he was stuck in the house for almost seven months,” Hank countered. 

Connor pouted. “No.”

Hank sighed. “Look, Connor. We all appreciate that you are willing to take this all on, but it isn’t as complicated as you’re making it. Nines is more than capable of taking care of himself.”

“I don’t have information and it makes me nervous,” he said, eyes falling back down to his hands. “I can’t lose him. He understands so much of what I am as an android and… he’s my brother.”

“Aw, Con,” Hank reached across the space, pulling him into his shoulder. Connor fisted his shirt, holding Hank hostage till he wanted to let go. “It’s ok, hun,” he whispered, carding his fingers through soft synthetic strands of hair. “He’ll be ok.”

“You can’t promise that,” Connor whispered. “But I appreciate the settlement.”

They sat like that, Connor slowly melting into Hank. 

“Hank?”

“Hmmm?”

“Would you be willing to at least try the mall scenario I mentioned?” Connor said, pulling back. 

Hank groaned, “Connor-”

“No, wait, hear me out,” Connor said, tongue darting out to wet his lips unnecessarily. “I will bring Gavin, but he will know. I want someone else who knows Nines as well as I do, tell me if what I’m seeing is indeed bad behavior we should be concerned about, or if I can let this go. I promise, I won’t talk about this again after.”

Hank searched his expression, looking for deceit. He couldn’t find it under the puppy eyes. 

“Fuck… yeah. Call Gavin first, I want to hear you have the conversation,” Hank warned, hands patting around for his phone. “I’ll call Nines after.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You helped me calm down,” Nines said, from the door. He was curled in on himself, to be as non-threatening as possible. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hint, hint

Nines lay next to Kelston, the two of them naked in a nest of messy blankets. Kelston was on his side, head propped up on his hand, gray eyes distracted as they tracked how the human played with Nines’ hand. They were talking ex’s, past relationships solely on Kelston’s side, and now, the inevitable turn back to what’d happened.

“I know you’ve really been through a lot, Nines,” Kelston said, voice barely above a whisper. He threaded their fingers together. He brought Nines’ hand up and kissed each of his knuckles, not breaking eye contact. “Did you… ever… I don’t know if it's too early to ask? I don’t--”

“Just ask, Kels,” Nines muttered, shifting to push the half of his body closer to the human’s warmth. 

Kelston bit his lip, taking a deep breath. “Did you ever get the closure you needed with Gavin?”

Nines’ insides twisted hearing his ex-lovers name spoken in such a fragile moment between them. “I gave him permission to move on a long time ago,” Nines whispered, eyes locked on their combined hands. “I gave permission to myself as well,” though he wouldn’t mention that it was a much more recent turn. “It's all this,” he waved at his own body. “I’ve had a harder time coming to terms with.”

Kelston lifted Nines’ jaw with a single finger, forcing the android to meet his eyes. “I should have asked this a long time ago, but do you need professional help? I don’t think androids are any different, emotionally. You both went through a lot over the last year, and you’ve only been awake for six months. You need to let yourself heal, truly. I can be here, support you through what you need but I can’t heal you or make you happy. You need to do all of that yourself.”

Nines blinked up at him. “Someones told you that.”

Kelston huffed, bowing his head down enough for Nines to kiss his forehead in a silent apology. “Yeah, you caught me,” Kelston grabbed at Nines’ jaw, kissing him properly. “My own therapist.”

Nines pulled back a little. “You go?”

“Not now but I used to,” Kelston admitted. “FBI mandated after the first shot is fired by an agent. I shot to kill and… I did. I killed the lady. She was holding her husband and children hostage after she caught him cheating. Confronted him and things got… ugly, to say the least. The local PD called us in after day two of failed negotiations. I was on a different team at the time, and she came out, guns ablazing when our negotiator tripped over a verbal minefield. I still think about her, sometimes.

“But this isn’t about me,” Kelston kissed him again. “Do you need to see someone?”

“No,” Nines said, squeezing the human hand. “But… I think it’s about time we have a conversation about… what we are.”

Kelston snorted, leaning to lay fully on his back, their hands resting in the space between, fingers threaded together. Quiet fell between them, both thinking of what should be said. There was a level of intimacy they’d reached recently that was very welcome to Nines, believing once more that to at least someone, he was attractive, wanted.

Their first encounter on the couch was almost three weeks ago now. They came together most nights, alternating between surfaces and whose bed they collapsed in. At work, they hid it like Satan himself, occasionally Nines setting Geanna off just to give Kelston an excuse to yell at everyone and cover any tracks that the other highly intuitive Agents on the team might pick up on. Kelston always made Nines pay for it in bed those nights. 

Conversation around adding a name to their mindless fucking was dangerous. They both knew it. It was still a conversation that Nines needed to have. He was ok with how things were at first, till a woman, a witness that claimed to have spotted the Davis brothers started openly flirting with Kelston. Nines had to temper his jealousy, walking away to keep from punching something breakable. He wasn’t sure how he would react to Kelston’s answer, but this in between wasn’t good for his mental state. 

“Us being together would be stupid,” Kelston said at last, pinching at the bridge of his nose lightly. Nines’ wires twisted painfully on the inside. “Yet…” He glared up at the ceiling, Nines holding his breath. “I want it. Us.”

“Me too,” Nines whispered, and knew it was the truth. 

Kelston came back over him, keeping his weight off the android needlessly. He brushed the back of his fingers carefully along Nines’ high cheekbones. “You just love getting with superiors, don’t you?” 

Nines blushed furiously, eyes darting to the side. “I just don’t get out,” he muttered. 

Kelston frowned at that. “That’s not a good thing, Nines. I think those weekend trips you did with North for a few weeks did do you some good.”

“No,” Nines countered, closing his eyes, debating on how much to tell his maybe brand new boyfriend. “It was more self destructive behavior.”

Kelston ran the back of his fingers against Nines’ brows, slate eyes following the motion. “You should do it again though. Maybe take Connor and Hank with you as well? You do need to see more of the world.”

Nines groaned at the mention of his brother. “He’s going to fucking kill me.”

Kelston’s brows knit. “What? For wanting to go out?”

“No, no…” Nines bit his lip. “No, this,” he said, waving a finger between them. 

“Oh!” Kelston turned to fall onto his back, cracking up. “Let him!”

Nines took much the same position as Kelston had, resting a hand on the human’s sternum to get a better reading on his vitals, letting the steady heartbeat sooth him. “You have no idea how overbearing he’ll become. He truly believes he can get me and Gavin back together, no matter what he says on the matter.”

“Gavin?”

Nines nodded. “I don’t want to take away from the healing he’s done and… maybe it’s for the best. I dream sometimes of the horrific things they made me do to him.” 

Kelston shot up, grabbing at Nines, kissing him. He overwhelmed Nines, pushing him back down onto the bed. Nines was left breathless when the human pulled away. “None of that,” Kelston muttered. “That wasn’t you,” Kelston kissed him again. “That was the machine,” he kissed on the edge of Nines’ lips. “Wasn’t you,” at his throat. The humans' hands shifted to grab android hips. “This is.”

“Kel--” Nines jolted, going ridged at the caller ID at the corner of his HUD. 

“Nines?”

“Hank is calling me,” Nines sat up, Kelston falling back on his hunches. “Hello, Hank?” He answered aloud to keep his boyfriend in the loop.

_ “Nines? Hey, I’m not catching you at a bad time, am I?” _

Hank sounded nervous. Nines looked over both his and Kel’s state of undress, the humans head tilted to the side and brows furrowed in question. 

“No. Is everything ok?”

_ “Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,” _ Nines imagined Hank running a nervous hand through his salt and pepper hair.  _ “I uh… Did you want to go out tomorrow?” _

“Oh!” Nines hadn’t expected that at all, floundering for a moment. He and Kelston didn’t have plans, it was technically their day off. “No, I’m free.”

_ “Cool, cool,” _ Hank went awkwardly quiet. A quiet brush of cloth and a pained grunt from Hank had him continuing.  _ “I uh, wanted to know if you wanted to go out shopping tomorrow? Just hang out for a little while?” _

“Will Connor be joining us?” Nines had to ask, unable to keep his voice from drifting into suspicions. 

_ “No, he won’t. But this is his idea even though I-- OW! Hey! He already knows! No need to-- Stop that!” _

Nines bit his bottom lip to keep from smiling, a small ache in his wires at the witty banter as Connor assaulted his life partner in shame. “I’d love to go out, Hank. Did you have anywhere in mind?”

_ “In mind? Oh uh, maybe just a walk around the mall?” _

“I would love to. Thank you for the invitation. When?”

_ “Noon tomorrow? I’ll come by and pick you up.” _

“Sounds wonderful. Thank you, Hank.”

_ “Yeah,” _ he muttered into his phone receiver bashfully,  _ “no problem kid. Have a good night.” _

“You too, Hank.”

“Got a hot date?” Kelston said with a smirk. 

“Someone has to take me out,” Nines bantered back without thinking. Both men paused, looking at one another in shock. “I--” Nines shook his head. “--didn’t mean for it to--”

“No, no,” Kelston placed a gentle hand on his knee. “You’re right. I just… don’t know how with us both being--”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nines insisted, feeling himself flush with embarrassment. “It was a misuse of sarcasm.”

Kelston chuckled, climbing back onto hands and knees, invading Nines personal space with free reign, kissing the android. “I wish I could, babe.”

“I’m not a lady to show off on your arm,” Nines reminded him, leaning forward to initiate the next round of kissing. 

“No, you’d put them all to shame,” Kelston said. Nines snorted, pushing the other man off his lap. “Don’t you need to eat or something?”

“I was just thinking about that,” Kelston said with a devious smirk on his lips. “Flip over.”

“No,” Nines deadpanned. “You haven’t eaten since lunch and we just fininsed a round of sex. Go eat before your blood sugar drops any lower.”

Kelston removed himself, a dark doubt pulling at his brows. “Are you scanning me?”

Nines cocked his head to the side, confused. “I scan everything.”

Kelston took a moment on that. “Everything?”

“That is how most androids take in the world, via scanning items and cross referencing with either past experiences or the internet. I can turn off my biometric scanning, if you’d prefer? I only do it to those I lo--”

“Please turn it off,” Kelston cut him off, backing up off the bed and heading out of the room without looking back. Nines immediately went into his scanners settings, turning them off as requested. 

Nines rubbed at his arms, feeling cold after the off putting encounter. He followed Kelston out to the kitchen, picking nervously at the hair on his chin. The human was making something to do with pasta. 

“What do you see? Or should I say, scan?” Kelston said, a tone in his voice Nines wasn’t sure he appreciated. 

“Are you going to be a dick about this now?” Nines demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. “It's how I was built. I can’t change that.”

Kelston’s brows rose in shock. “Am I being a dick? I asked a simple question, babe.”

Nines rolled his eyes. “Words and tone are completely different things. Your tone makes it seem like you’re mad at me.”

“Does it?” Kelston came around the island, crowding in on Nines who refused to move. Kelston kissed his cheek, running his nose over the side of Nines’ face. “Why would I be mad?”

Nines didn’t have an answer for that. “I would lend it to being some deeply held bias against androids,” he said, picking from the top of what his investigative software found most probable.

Kelston backed off, affronted. “Excuse me?”

Nines grabbed onto him, shocked even by what he’d carelessly spouted off. His dopamine falling rapidly and adrenaline rising from the perceived threat overriding his social protocol software. “I’m sorry, Kelston! That’s not what I--”

Kelston struck out, slapping his hand away. Nines yanked his hands to his chest, cradling the one struck the hardest as the new sensation of pain drawn from a partner sparked down the laid nerve network. 

“Ow,” he said, looking down at his hand almost as if it were foreign. He’s been through worse physical altercations with Gavin, short of his ex trying to rip him limb from limb in their early working relationship. He’d never felt any of that though, he didn’t have the capability back then. This was new. Physical pain inflicted not from a bump or a chase, but his partner. 

Kelston’s grey eyes, colored in shock, aghast by Nines’ reaction. “Fuck, babe,” Kelston’s hands hesitated, unsure if it was ok to touch him. Kelston’s brow set, lowering his hands down by his sides. “That’s not… you can’t just say that kinda stuff,” he chided Nines. “I’m not sure if that’s the relationship you had with your ex, but that really hurt.”

“I didn’t mean it,” Nines promised, unable to scan Kelston anymore to assure himself that the human was calming down or if Nines was riling him up. It put Nines on edge, cortisol rising rapidly. 

“You obviously came up with that from somewhere,” Kelston argued, anger not dissipating. 

Nines closed his eyes, trying to rid his HUD of the incriminating list, each of the follow up choices worse than the next. “No I--”

Kelston raised a hand in Nines’ face, cutting him off. Kelston turned away, putting distance between them. He moved a few things around, starting on his dinner. “Don’t worry about it,” he said after nearly ten minutes of Nines paralized in worry he ruined the beginnings of his second relationship in less than twenty minutes. “I don’t want to yell about this, anymore. I’ve never had a partner willing to just stand there,” he peered over his shoulder, “trying to find a way to apologize.”

“Can…” Nines fisted his hands, not knowing what to do with them. “I just want a hug,” Nines whispered. 

Kelston melted, shoulder dropping the tension collected there. “I know, but that would be reinforcing bad behavior, wouldn’t it?”

Nines’ ground his teeth against the rebuff. “I’m not an animal,” he said as calmly as possible. 

“No. But you lived with one and this whole argument proved it. He taught you many different things that are clearly not normal.”

Nines gripped the counter behind him, glaring at Kelston. The small part of him still holding onto the ghost of his past relationship whipped and cried at how wrong he was. The tone of voice Kelston used was a step above patronizing and it didn’t fit in Nines understanding of his only other relationship. “Many different things that aren’t  _ normal _ ?”

Kelston nodded, cocking his hip to rest it against the island, freeing his hands up. He slowly counted off them. “How you handle external problems with others around you, for one. You tend to take a very physical approach, I’m not sure if you’ve realized that or not. I don’t think that’s in your software. I think you learned it off someone you were close to.”

Nines crossed his arms back over his chest, trying in every other way to not come off defensive and failing. “I was  _ made _ to intervene in dangerous situations for humans should they--”

“You internalize problems that you believe you should be able to handle by yourself, because you are used to a weaker partner that can’t hold you in place. Or back.”

Nines straightened at that. “I’m made to protect those that--”

“You can easily, as a deviant, re-write any of that programming,” Kelston cut him off. “Geanna was made to not hurt a fly and I’ve seen her kill a person.”

“Your size is something you can help, can you?” Nines countered, failing to keep the desperate edge out of his voice.

Kelston shrugged. “No more than you can. But I’m talking about personality.”

“You’d rather I change then?” Nines demanded.

Kel sucked at his teeth, leaning against the island, giving himself a moment to build his argument. Nines waited patiently. 

“These traits aren’t the worst, Nines. You give and give and give without asking in return and that’s an amazing quality to have, but that’s only sustainable for so long,” Kelston threw his hands down on the counter, trying with his very eyes to get the point across to Nines. “You gave so much, you ran into the arms of the very people who put you in this situation.” 

Nines took a moment to absorb his partner's statement. “You want me to care less?”

Kelston rolled his eyes. “Never mind. You need to cool off. Nothing I’m saying is getting through.” He rounded back to the tomato sauce he was simmering. 

Nines couldn't handle the staunch rejection, not a second time in one night. He rounded the island himself, cortisol rising dangerously as he pulled at Kelston’s shoulder to force the human to face him. 

“Nines!” Kelston put the spoon down just in time to keep the smattering of red across him and the android. 

“Don’t just turn your back on me!”

“You need to cool off!” Kelston shouted, getting into his face, pointing out of the kitchen and to the couch. “I will not argue anymore with you!”

“We can talk about this!”

“And this is talking?!” Kelston demanded, waving a hand between them. Both breathing heavy, hands fisted, leaning in the empty space, ready for the continued fight. Kelston’s hand moved fast, grabbing a fist full of Nines’ synthetic hair. The sudden physicality threw Nines off balance, Kelston taking advantage. He pushed Nines up against the kitchen island, forcing him back. Nines’ hands flew back to steady himself.

“Calm down,” he ordered. “Get control of yourself. Breathe, Nines.”

“Stop, Kelston! It hurts!” Nines begged, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. 

“Shhhh, just listen. Stop fighting,” he said, the hand not holding Nines in place grabbing a synthetic hip. “Relax.”

The conflicting dopamine at the physical contact and near critical levels of cortisol flooding Nines’ processors from the pain blocked feedback to his limbs. His hits to get Kelston off him rendered to mere pats. Nines wasn’t strong enough to fight his hormones. He tried his hardest to relax, even as every nerve in his scalp told him to put the human above him in his place. His limbs wouldn’t cooperate. 

Nines slowly relaxed each limb, getting a smile from Kelston. “That’s it baby, breathe.”

Nines closed his eyes, trying to block it all out. The pain, the lack of power, the overwhelming hormones conflicting as the human’s hand fell to his clothed genital component. Contact made him jump. 

“Whatareyou--” the words slurred through his vocal component. He didn’t want the stimulation right now. The hormones were already too much. Adding the genitals feedback loop would mean critical mass. 

“Shhh, shhhh, shhh,” Kelston held fast, Nines whimpering at the tight hold on his synthetic cock. “I have you. Be a good boy. Get control of yourself and I’ll give you a reward.”

“Kel--” Nines systems were threatening shut down with the overwhelming level of information coming in from all directions. 

“Nines, don’t talk. Breathe.”

His breaths came in pained little gasps, the hand moved cloth against his growing erection. The redirect of Thirium and rising feedback loop crippling what was left of his processing power. He could only breathe, feel, experience. There was no control as tears fell from his eyes. He was at the complete mercy of the human. 

“What a good boy,” whispered against his audio processor. He was flipped at some point, Kelston entering into him and fucking him against the kitchen island while Nines was prone in his own body. He lost minutes of time, processors lagging as the new systems set top priority to keep appearances of his pretend humanity. 

“Such a good little slut for me, huh?” a dirty moan, throbbing. “Fuck, come on, open up.”

Taking commands in the hope of making it stop, he opened his mouth, RAM filled with the DNA of Kelston Fosters and other trace detergent and food particles. The software ran without permission, the engineers assuming that the android would only place items in its mouth when it knew it could. The run of the software was the last straw. Nines blacked out, a soft reboot starting up to give his systems time to cool down and catch up.

Nines came back to himself slowly. It was the dead of night. He was still bent over the kitchen island. The lights were off and he could hear Kelston breathing in the bedroom. 

Did he still have a boyfriend? Did he anger the human further by the forced reboot? He’d lost so much time, but he was calm now. Could see how what he’d said was hurtful to Kelston and then adding an accelerant to the fire by trying to get physical.

Every social protocol he did have warned him to move slowly and cautiously, to keep from upsetting the human again. He reached down and slipped his sweatpants back on. He padded around to the bedroom, Kelston propped up against the headboard, looking up from the paper book he was reading. 

“You back with me?” Kelston asked. “I was getting worried there for a moment.”

“You helped me calm down,” Nines said, from the door. He was curled in on himself, to be as non-threatening as possible. “Thank you.”

“No problem, babe. Now, come here,” he said, patting Nines' side of the bed. Nines accepted the command, keeping an inch of distance between their bodies. Kelston closed it, cupping his face. “You can scan me,” Kelston said, kissing at his hairline a few times. “It was a stupid thing to even--”

“No,” Nines sat back, making sure Kelston couldn’t physically distract him. “I was thinking, while I was out. I think me and Gavin’s past relations… warped some of my perspectives. I want to let you lead,” Nines waved between them. “I’m still new to this, and am afraid I might be making some wrong choices. The added layer of these hormones to my processors creates heightened feelings and I need you to pull me back, like you did earlier.”

Kelston grabbed his hand, kissing each knuckle. “It hit me while I was reading,” he said with a chuckle, “You are the most advanced android ever created going through puberty.” 

Nines assessed how true that might be, not finding the emotional dips and highs too different from the descriptions on forms and other posting sites. The cross reference in the medical literature backed it all up. He nodded slowly. “Maybe… that isn’t too far off. I understand if that is too much to ask from you. I’m still trying to figure out my new normal, and I--”

Kelston reached out with the hand that had been holding Nines’, pulling him in to kiss his forehead. “Please stop apologizing for what those monsters did to you,” he begged. “I will be whatever you need me to be. I’m here for you, Nines. Don’t forget it.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Blow me.”
> 
> Nines nodded. That was reasonable. “Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well hello once again! 
> 
> I want to thank everyone who commented on the last chapter, the reaction was exactly what I was hoping for! <3 I know the turn was swift but necessary. If I've done my job right, you'll hopefully understand in the coming chapters why I've done it this way. I do want to take this time to remind of the tags. I haven't updated them from last week but all the major stuff is there. If there is anything in the tags that you might find hard to read or cringy, please leave now. Things are only going to continue downhill from here. To prevent spoilers, I'm specifically not tagging at the start of chapters for the full effect. This is going to be your only warning from here on out. Don't like? Don't read. 
> 
> Now, with all that said, I'm currently in the process of writing Part 3 and have run into a few snags with the ending of Part 2. I'm going to be putting this on hold for a few weeks as I work through some plot points and make sure everything aligns as need be. I sincerely thank you for reading up to this point and hope that I won't be longer than a few weeks as I make everything smoother! Once I feel everything is as is should be, I'll pick up with the Monday postings. 
> 
> Till then, enjoy! XD

Kelson raised a single brow, skin still blotchy from sleep and hair a mess. The fridge door was open but the human didn’t seem to care. Nines grabbed at his shirt, slowly moving forward to pull him into a hug. Kel let the fridge door close, hugging his new boyfriend back. 

“Everything ok?” He asked into the fragile silence. 

“I want to be close,” Nines answered honestly. 

Kelston patted his shoulder. “Let me throw some cereal in a bowl and we can lounge on the couch together till noon, hmm?”

Nines nodded, but neither of them moved. Kelston’s fingers slowly drifted up to Nines’ hair, fingernails lightly scraping through the soft, now very real strands. They no longer disappeared when Nines deactivated his skin. 

“You know,” Kelston’s hand came around to Nines’ five o’clock shadow he hadn’t shaved or plucked out yet. “I love you with this,” he said, kissing each side of Nines’ cheeks where the hair was growing in.

Nines grabbed at the human’s wrists, resting his hold, not trying to pull away. “Really?”

Kelston nodded, kissing Nines. “Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you about that.” 

Nines smiled, kissing the other’s open palm. “I hate the hair the most.”

“I know,” Kelston said, gray eyes sad. “I think you should try and let it grow out, though.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Ok,” Kelston patted his cheek, Nines breaking off to quickly find comfort in the couch. He snuggled into the throw blanket he’d recently purchased. His lack of sleep caught up with him, he drifted in and out for a moment. 

“Lift your head up, babe,” Kelston requested quietly. Nines sat up, letting his human take his normal spot, resting his head against the human’s thigh, facing the couch, back to the TV. Kelston didn’t turn it on, eating in the quiet. Nines let his audio processor give him Kelston’s heart rate and the sensors on his cheek the man's blood pressure, all within normal range, all without scanning per se. 

“I want to try something,” Nines muttered quietly. It was something he’d always had Gavin do for him, but not something he’d ever really done in return. 

“Oh?”

Nines peered up at him. “You’ve heard of cock warming?”

Kelston doubled over Nines who refused to move, coughing fit at his quick inhale. “Jesus Christ! Are you serious?!”

Nines could feel the elevated heart rate, the chub starting to form against the side of the human’s briefs. “Yes.”

Kelston coughed a few more times, sitting back to catch his breath. He peered down after a moment, breathing now elevated for a different reason. “Fuck babe, I’ve never-- I mean, my ex didn’t ever want to--”

“Is that a yes?” Nines asked, eyes dropping back down to the nicely filling cock. 

Kelston took a calculated bite from his breakfast, sitting back again, arms laying across the top of the couch. He pulled his legs together, Nines sitting up on his elbows to quickly drag the briefs down to the man's ankles. 

“Oh fuck, you should see how hungry you look,” Kelston said, running his free hand through Nines’ hair roughly. 

“My turn for breakfast,” Nines muttered, sinking down on the half hard cock. Kelston breathed in through his nose, head tilting back. Nines ran his tongue along the vein filling with blood, massaging lightly. 

“Don’t you still need to breathe?” Kelston asked, still enough blood in his body to think. 

Nines pulled off, stroking lazily with his hand. “Not really. I’ll take breaks when I need too.”

“Ok.”

Nines ducked back in, letting the warm organ sit nicely against his tongue. Nines swallowed a few times as it continued to grow, making Kel groan and pull at his hair. He kept the smile to himself, letting himself just exist for a moment. He could understand now why Gavin enjoyed this when he’d needed the distraction. There was only one job to do, to focus on. The lowering of his stress and rise of dopamine was a nice cherry on top.

He did take breaks to circulate new air over his processors, staunchly ignoring his own growing problem between his legs. Kelston at one point rested his cereal bowl on top of Nines’ head, making them both chuckle. He properly placed the empty dish on the coffee table, squishing the android that much further down on his dick. Nines whined, palming himself at that point. 

“No, no,” Kelston grabbed at his wrists, pulling to hold them at the small of Nines’ back. Nines gave him control, still within himself to break free if he wanted. “Last as long as you can, babe,” Kelston whispered, voice deeper with his arousal. Nines nodded lightly. They rested there, Kelston occasionally rocking his hips up to get a little friction. Nines took it. He backed off a little for air and went right back down, processors flooding with biological feedback as precum landed over the flat of Nines’ tongue. He couldn’t quite deep throat, something keeping him at bay from the attempt.

“It’s getting kinda late,” Kelston said after what felt like both five minutes and a small eternity. “Let’s get us both off, huh?”

Nines nodded, trying to come off. Kelston trapped him with both hands holding his head still, lips still wrapped around him. “Hold on now,” he situated his hips a little better, legs spreading wider. “I’m just going to fuck your throat, ok?”

Nines tried to shake his head, unsure of how the sensitive hardware would handle a member as large as Kelston’s using it like that. Nines patted the man’s thigh, trying to convey to let him go. 

“I know, I know, hold on,” Kelston flattened his feet, suddenly pulling Nines down, forcing himself right into the back of Nines’ throat. The fat head of his dick brushed up against one of the newer nerve ports, making Nines body convulse, a sound similar to gagging leaving Nines involuntarily. “Ooooh, fuck! Yes, babe, just like that!” 

Knowing he could really severely hurt the human, Nines grit through the abuse, fisting his hands on the couch rather than thigh. He tried to keep his analysis fluid from running into his airways, unable to swallow properly with the erratic thrusting. It quickly teetered over into unbearable. Nines grabbed at Kelston’s hands, ripping them off the back of his head. 

“Ni--”

He gasped, precum and his own fluids rushing into his airway. He rolled over in the space between the coffee table and couch, heaving the fluids from his systems only to then start coughing to get the build up of liquid out of his artificial lungs. 

“Nines?! Nines!” Kelston was on the ground with him, pounding on his back. “Fuck! Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“I had your dick in my mouth!” Nines spat back, wiping at his mouth with the back of his hand when nearly everything was expelled. His systems stress spiked his hormones, Nines was livid, his throat feeling raw as he kept coughing.

“Why-- I don’t-- Fuck!” Kelston grabbed at his own shirt, ripping it off to clean both Nines and the rug. “I’m so sorry,” he apologized. 

“I didn’t think that would happen either,” Nines admitted quietly, controlling his anger. He should have pulled off far earlier than he did, that wasn’t Kelston’s fault. Taking the shirt in hopes of making himself feel better. Kelston gathered him up into his arms, hugging him. 

“It’s ok. One new experience at a time,” Kelston whispered against his LED, carding his fingers through mussed hair. 

Determined to keep the mood going, Nines reached down for the man's flagging dick. Kelston jumped, not expecting the contact at all. 

“Nines! Relax, I’m not--”

“I want to make you feel good.”

“We need to-- Stop it!” Kelston slapped his hand again, but Nines knew what the pain would feel like now, fighting through it to keep tugging at the other's dick. “Nines!”

“Let me not fail at this too!”

Kelston froze, giving the android the perfect window to grab onto him and starting a fairly punishing pace. “W-wait, N-N-Nines! What d-did-- Fuck!” His forehead rested against Nines’ shoulder, hands holding onto Nines’ upper arms for dear life. Nines knew exactly what he liked after weeks of sleeping together, and the human was no match for him. He was hard and on the edge within a minute. 

“Nines!” He shouted right into the android audio processor, cuming all over his own shirt and past it to the rug. He slouched against the couch, his gray eyes distant. Nines reached down, running his fingers through the milky substance, bringing it up to his lips. 

“God, you made me the luckiest man on earth,” Kelston whispered, capturing the android’s attention. Gray eyes blown wide, watching the android eat what should have gone to waste till there was nothing left. He grabbed the back of Nines’ head, pulling him into a kiss.

“It’s almost eleven thirty and I know you want to shower before going out with Hank,” Kelston muttered against his lips. “But when you come back, we will be talking about that little outburst.” He kissed Nines again. He swiped his shirt from the android, shakily getting to his feet. Nines followed him, trying not to mind the drying mess he’d made or his own flagging erection. 

The little reminder of what time it was popped up on Nines’ HUD just as he reached the shower. He drenched himself in the acid wash, worried that Hank might see what had just happened if he wasn’t careful in washing all the possible evidence away. In the mirror, he trimmed the facial hair he did have. The short buzz was quick and easy. He couldn’t help but pluck a few stranglers that had been roughed up while he was laying in Kelston’s lap. 

Hank picked Nines up only two minutes late, Nines dressed in a set of his casual clothes. 

“Hello,” Nines bid, taking his seat as the car dipped. 

Hank didn’t mention the car's behavior, giving Nines a smirk. “Hey, kid. How have you been?”

“Good,” Nines lied with a perky tone, trying to hide all his underlying anxiety. “Work could be better but... “

“Story of my life,” Hank muttered, looking over his shoulder as he joined traffic. 

Nines noticed the perspiration and raised heart rate of the human, turning to take a deeper scan. Hank had continued to lose a few more pounds under the gentle care of Connor over the past five months, not as many as he could if he were on a stricter lifestyle change but nudging was needed and not a full one eighty with Hank. His hair was shorter but still long in comparison to the average search for men’s hair cuts in Hank’s age range. His beard was trimmed and his clothes were cleaned recently. 

“Is something wrong, Hank?” Nines asked at the red light. 

Hank peered at him from the corner of his eye, “wrong?”

Nines picked his words carefully. “You seem… nervous?”

Hank turned fully toward him, “I told Connor recently as well, but don’t go scanning me looking for problems.”

The recent argument with Kelston in mind, Nines took the blatant hint, facing forward and updating his personal permissions on who was bioscanned. “Sorry, Hank. I was just worried at the increased--”

“Thanks for the worry, but I don’t need both of you coming at me.”

The car fell into an awkward quiet. 

“Shit, kid,” Hank ran a hand over his forehead, running the sweat back into dry hair. “I didn’t ask you out to jump down your throat. I wanted to catch up.”

Nines fiddled with the seam of his jeans, “thank you for the offer. I wanted this as well. How is Connor?”

Hank’s body rocked with a dry chuckle. “Same lovable stick-up-his-ass know it all we still somehow manage to love.”

Nines knocked his head back and laughed. It was the first time he’d laughed so hard he started to cry. “What did he do last night?” Nines chuckled. 

Hank’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “What do you mean?”

Nines wiped the tears. “You only make snide comments when Connor has upset you in the last thirty six to forty eight hours, but by how tense you are I’d say it was in the last twelve.”

Hank got strangely quiet as they hit the highway. Not even rising to the obvious disregarded request to not scan him. Nines’ investigative software picked up on the obvious signs of discomfort, not needed to be seen through a deeper scan. Hank thought himself guilty, unable to respond thinking he was being as obvious as he was. “Hank?  _ Is _ everything ok with Connor?”

“Of course,” Hank insisted, eyes trained forward without adding anything else. 

Nines sat back in his seat, something close to pain sitting just under his Thirium pump but it was physical. He gently ran a hand over his pump to try and settle the feeling. He had to take Hank at his word, but it did have something to do with Connor. 

They stayed quiet till Hank parked in the mall’s garage. “I’m sorry, Nines. You’re right. He has been really worried about you. Since you moved out we haven’t heard a whole lot.”

“The investigation has taken a lot of my time,” Nines admitted. 

Hank hummed, looking at the people coming and going around them. “He knows that you don’t like his protective programming or whatever it is, so he sent me in his place. I’m nervous cause I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t want to push you away too.”

Nines placed a reassuring hand on Hank’s shoulder. “I promise you, Hank. You can’t push me away. Connor can be overbearing, but I still love him. I just needed some space and time seems to have gotten away from me.”

Hank gave him his genuine half smile. “Good to know, kid.”

They left the car at the same time, Hank locking it behind them. “Have any purchase in mind?”

“I did want to try a few different stores,” Nines admitted. “Maybe grab something for North?”

“Lead the way,” Hank waved him through the door, holding it open for a gaggle of women who eyed Nines as they passed by him. “Don’t let me stop you,” Hank said with no passion, the words falling flat. 

“No need to,” Nines assured. “I’m sure my boyfriend wouldn’t appreciate it.”

Hank tripped over himself, surprised. “Excuse me? When did you get a boyfriend?”

“Last night,” Nines said, not wanting to have this conversation in public, he walked around Hank to the store he’d found that held what was well within his new coming sense of fashion. “It isn’t your concern.”

“No, I suppose it isn’t. Just a uh… bit of a shock. That’s a nice shirt,” he muttered, following after Nines, looking over his shoulder occasionally. 

Nines knew something was up, trying on his shirts and showing only the ones he knew he was going to purchase off to Hank for his opinion. The human was distracted, eyes distant all through the purchase process. Nines didn’t know what it was that was waiting for him till they happened to walk past the food court to the next store. 

Nines only paused in his stride for a moment before taking a hard left and walking away from the mint green eyes that caught his own. 

“Nines!” Connor shouted out, a chair scraping obnoxiously against the linoleum. Nines didn’t stop, pulling up Kelston’s phone number and immediately starting a call. 

“Nines, stop!” Connor grabbed at him, a few of the walking humans around them stopping to stare at the commotion he was creating. 

Nines ripped out of Connor’s hold with a small portion of his power, turning on the shorter android. “Stop,” he hissed through the pain the sudden action caused. “Whatever these fantasies of matchmaker--”

_ “Nines?” _ Kelston picked up. Nines was more than capable of having both conversations at the same time. 

_ “Can you come pick me up?”  _ He asked his lover, still talking aloud to Connor. 

“-- are, Connor. Cease this inherent need to keep ripping open a healing wound--”

_ “Is everything ok? Are you arguing with someone?” _ Kelston asked, the sound of keys jingling coming through his end. 

“--you feel you can fix.”

_ “Please get to the mall as fast as possible. I need a ride back.” _ Nines requested, cutting the call there.

Connor’s eyes watered, pleading with him. “Please, Nines, just talk with--”

“I’m in a new relationship as of last night. You are this close--” Nines raised his hand, fingers a hair's width apart. “-- from me breaking all contact with you. Let us move on.”

Connor grabbed at him, holding on as Nines practically dragging his predecessor across two store fronts. Connor’s grip was punishing against the new nerves, painful and smarting the whole time. 

“Connor,” Hank grabbed at his lover's hands, trying in vain to rip him off his brother. There were a few younger girls off to the side, their phones up and recording what was happening. Nines turned in just the right way to block their shots, protecting Connor and Hank from any potential scandal the tabloids were sure to be writing by tonight.

Tired of the show, Nines dropped his voice to a lower register set to intimidate. “Let g--”

“Your relationship isn’t healthy!” Connor shouted out over Nines. 

Nines was jerked up short at that. “What?”

“You are clearly stressed, Nines! What is he doing to you?”

Nines pried his brother's fingers off him. He cradled them in his own hands in what looked sentimental, minus the force he was using to cage Connor’s hands there. “We haven’t even been a couple longer than twenty four hours, Connor. You don’t get to tell me what is healthy and not within such a short time frame. I ex--”

“Nin-”

“Listen to me!” Nines hissed, holding his brother's hands harder. “I will only say this once. The base of your worries, Gavin--” it hurt to say his name with the man standing just out of range, Nines’ sensors hyper aware of his proximity. “--would have kept his distance even if you’d restored me day one.”

Connor’s face scrunched up, tears in his eyes. “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t have helped you sooner.” 

Nines sighed, lowering his voice. “We don’t blame you, Connor. We don’t associate you with what happened. If you keep on this path, you will incur our combined wrath with the meddling. Let us lead our lives in the aftermath of what happened. Stop this foolish, selfish behavior. Forget what happened, just like we are trying to.”

“I still see you laying on the couch,” Connor whispered, tears falling on his cheeks. “I can’t forget, Nines. Please, you can’t possibly be happy in your new relationship! We can work--”

Nines let him go like hot coals, stepping away. “You don’t get to tell me how to feel to cover for your self imposed guilt!” Nines felt his forced calm slipping back into what he turned into in the kitchen with Kelston. He backed up further, taking a few deep breaths to try and get control of himself. His eyes met Gavin’s, the man stuck. He clearly didn’t want to get any closer, but his inherent curiosity warred in wanting to know what was going on. Nines didn’t say anything to him, turning for the entrance on the other side of the large building. 

They followed. 

“If you just listen to what I have to say,” Connor pleaded, Nines unable to go anywhere till Kelston arrived, trapped with Connor’s pestering. 

“Did you talk to him before you brought him?” Nines demanded, Hank talking with Gavin inside. “And how did you convince Hank to do all of this?”

Connor shook his head, as if he were a human that needed to get their thoughts straight. “Nines, stop derailing the conversation. Just--”

“I’ve listened to your nonsense for long enough,” Nines stood impassively, shutting his audio processors off, ignoring everything his brother had to say. Connor wandered off after a minute, realizing what Nines had done. 

Kelston [1:12pm]:  _ I’m at the light. Which entrance? _

Self [1:12pm]:  _ South. _

Kelston [1:13pm]:  _ 2 minutes. _

Self [1:13pm]:  _ Thank you.  _

Gavin was there at his side, saying something Nines’ software was more than able to lip read, but Nines didn’t want that. He quickly flipped his hearing back on, “huh?”

“You have hair,” Gavin said awkwardly, looking down and scuffing his shoe on the concrete. 

Nines didn’t have anything constructed to say, unsure if what was happening wasn’t anything more than a cruel dream. “I do.”

“It uh… looks nice.”

Nines couldn’t help himself, reaching up to scratch at his chin, drawing Gavin’s eyes. “I wanted to try something else.” As if it wasn’t influenced by Kelston. 

“Don’t have to lie, tin can,” Gavin said, giving Nines an effortless cocky smile. “You did it just for me.”

Nines’ smile dropped, eyes scanning over the line of cars crawling in front of the mall. “Gavin, I didn’t know you were going to be here today. I promise.”

He nodded, looking back down at the ground. “I did,” he admitted, eyes scouring those who walked and drove by them. “I believe you. These two are… really a piece of work.”

Nines peeked over his shoulder, Connor watching with hope in his eyes, Hank glaring at the back of his android’s head. Connor didn’t know it yet, but he and Hank were about to have a long conversation when they all went home.

“I was talking with Hank and he made a good point,” Gavin said, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. 

“That’s dangerous,” Nines couldn’t help but poke effortlessly. 

Gavin snorted. “Right? But uh… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to be friends? Learn one another again?”

“I’m in a happy relationship, Gavin,” Nines felt a part of himself crumble and die as the words left him. 

Gavin shrugged. “Me too. Been in a few over the past few months. Doesn’t mean that I can’t miss the ghost of my best friend.”

The admittance from his once lover broke something in Nines. That maybe Connor had been onto something. He and Gavin had been through so much and this was Gavin’s way of bridging the tide of pain. 

Kelston pulled up at that moment taking in Nines slack jawed and in awe of Gavin’s maturity, throwing the car into park. He was half way out of the car when Nines realized what this all might look like. He dropped back into his anger, approaching the car in a huff to throw Kelston off. 

“Get back in the car, we’re leaving,” Nines instructed him. 

“What in that hell is going on?” He demanded, not moving to follow the android’s instructions. 

“It doesn’t matter. We can talk about it at home.”

“You’re dating Agent Fosters?” Connor said in shock from behind.

“It’s none of your business,” Nines spat, the anger in his voice not an act. He got into the car. 

Kelston hesitated but joined him in the end, speeding off to leave the shopping complex. 

“What the hell was all that about?” Kelston asked when they were about halfway home.

Nines ran a furious hand through his hair. “Connor is still attempting to get me and Gavin together.”

Kelston threw the vehicle into autonomous mode, flipping the chair to face him completely. “Say that again?”

Nines shook his head, refusing to meet stormy gray eyes. “I refused to entertain him and he got upset. I didn’t want to be in the situation and so I called you.”

Kelston sat patiently till Nines couldn’t stand it, glancing over at him. He was glaring at Nines. “And so you talked to  _ him _ ?”

“No. I left.” A blatant lie.

Kelston’s hand struck out, hitting the side of Nines’ chair. “Don’t lie to me!”

Nines flinched, even if his preconstruction software assured him Kelston’s trajectory wasn’t for him. “What reason would I have to lie?”

“You got caught and are trying to lie your way out of this!” Kelston insisted. 

Nines glared at him, needing to deflect the obvious lie. He wasn’t going to get out of it this way. His social software showed redirecting the conversation gave a stronger chance for a blow up, but also having the topic get lost. “Don’t dump your insecurities from your last partner cheating on you in this situation. It doesn’t call for it.”

Kelston hit the chair again. “Then tell me the truth! You went there to meet Gavin!”

Nines recognized the flaw in his partner's argument right away, exploiting it. “Why would I call to incriminate myself?” Nines asked calmly, proud of his control. “This was all Connor’s orchestration. I would not have agreed to Hank’s proposal if I’d known Gavin were involved.”

Kelston’s glare persisted, his brain working overtime to keep up with Nines. “You only fall back on that cadence of talk when you are drawing from your software. Why are you falling on old habits? Not able to lie on the spot?”

Nines huffed, turning back to the windshield. “You ask me for control but when I exhibit it, you call me a liar? It’s your turn to cool off, Kelston.”

“Fuck you,” Kelston threw himself back into his seat, legs spread wide, hand covering his eyes. They sat in the tense silence, home only a few more minutes away. 

“I know how you can make it up to me,” Kelston said as they were turning into the underground garage of the building. 

“Make what up to you?” Nines asked, unable to keep the edge out of his voice. 

“Prove to me you weren’t fucking him,” Kelston clarified. 

Nines rubbed his hands together nervously. If this is what it took to get past this, he was willing to do just about anything. “Ok.”

“Blow me.”

Nines nodded. That was reasonable. “Ok.” He reached for the door handle so they could make their way upstairs and--

“No,” Kelston grabbed his shoulder, keeping Nines in the car. “Here. Right now.”

The car idled till the driver turned it off. Kelston flipped the chair around again, legs still spread wide, a noticeable bulge starting on the side. 

Nines looked around the mostly empty garage. The car parked itself without cars on either side, meaning anyone could park next to them and they could be seen. “We might get caught.”

“You were caught with Gavin out in public.”

“Standing next to someone is hardly the same as a sexual act and I told you--” Nines said, trying to keep his voice calm. “--That I was tricked into--”

“You can suck me off till I cum again or you can find a new living situation and boyfriend.”

Nines drew up short, shocked. His Thirium pump skipped a beat, unable to handle the influx of processing power with the adrenaline flooding his systems at the threat. His software had said a blow up, not an ultimatum. “Kelston, come on, we can talk about this like--”

“Now, Nines,” he said, reaching down, unzipping his own pants to release some of the pressure. “Or never.”

Nines battled himself, drawing all the positives and negatives of doing the action or not. He only hesitated for three seconds before coming to his conclusion. He reached forward, freeing the half hard penis from its confines, gently licking up the filling vein on the bottom. 

“That’s the good boy I know,” Kelston whispered, fingers running through Nines’ hair. 

Nines didn’t need to do much work. Once fully hard, Kelston held him in place and did what he wanted. Nines let his mind wander, putting in the bare minimum to give Kelston what he wanted. His software mended all the mistakes he’d made that morning, learning from his experience and quietly assuring Nines the same mistakes wouldn’t happen again. Assured he wouldn’t choke and gag again, Nines let his mind wander to the short conversation he and Gavin shared. 

Gavin was willing to give friendship a try. He wasn’t hiding anymore. He’d come to terms with this version of Nines still existing. Even if it meant taking this slowly, Nines wanted that friendship back. The quick witty banter wasn’t something he and Kelston shared and he missed Gavin dearly at the end of the day. 

Warm fluid flooded down his version of an esophagus, breaking his concentration. Nines swallowed around the throbbing cock, moving his tongue still to keep the sensitivity high. Kelston ripped him off, breathing heavily. 

“You were talking to him,” Kelson muttered. “Don’t lie to me, Nines. We do the same thing for a living. Just tell me the truth, babe.”

Nines quickly reconstructed what Kelston must have seen from his approche up to the front of the mall. The slight lie would work. “He came up and asked me if I was doing ok. I didn’t respond due to the shock that he was willing to acknowledge I was a living being.”

Kelston tightened his hold on Nines hair, a nonverbal warning. “That's it?”

It was all that he needed to know. “Yes. I promise,” he said, picking up the softening cock and kissing the head. Kelston moaned, releasing Nines. He tucked himself away, zipping his pants back up. 

“I hope you’ve seen how he can’t see you the way I do, with all your new systems,” Keston said, opening his doors. “How wonderful they are. How perfect they make you.”

Nines felt himself blush, putting his thoughts of Gavin away. Just like Gavin had pushed him away so far. He grabbed his bags and they walked to the apartment hand in hand. 

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, this will be on a short hold while I smooth some character development over to align with Part 3. Sorry for the sudden nature of it, but I think it'll really improve the overall ending of this series. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! See you again in a few weeks


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wow,” Arianna sat back in her chair with the force of her surprise. “Really?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey~! 
> 
> So... funny story... I live in Texas and had the whole last week off due to the record breaking weather. I thankfully had electric most the time, and being off from work, I worked on this nonstop as a distraction. So, silver lining to the whole horrible situation, there is no pause needed like I'd thought! 
> 
> Please enjoy!

“How did it go?” Arianna asked from her desk, eyes still trained on the lines of code flying by on the little black window in the top left of her monitor. 

“Connor up to his shit again,” Gavin groaned, sitting down heavily on her couch. She turned at that, brows drawn. “But I fucking went with it this time.”

“What, the machine didn’t show up?”

“No he did, but they didn’t tell him I would be there,” Gavin said, rubbing at his arms as goose bumps came back in a rush. “He was not a happy camper about it. Called Connor out right in the middle of the mall floor and everything. Not looking forward to all of that going to the tabloids later.”

“Oh, wow,” Ari sat back in her chair. “First off, fuck the tabloids. Second, why  _ did _ he tell you? You never really explained that to me.”

“Connor wanted me there to compare notes. He thinks the machine is being abused,” Gavin said. “I didn’t see any kinda abuse, but it's hard to catch that kinda thing on androids. They don’t bruise or anything.”

Ari hummed to herself, eyes going distant. “That is true. But, wait… who mentioned abuse? Is… the machine, ok?”

“Connor has this hunch, he told me that the machine will try to fill the hole I left anyway he can. Since he’s inexperienced, it’ll turn abusive. I don’t know if that’s the whole truth, but it seems Connor believes it.”

Ari chewed on her lip. “That is concerning. I don’t think Connor would just make those kinds of accusations if he didn’t have some kind of evidence to back it up?”

“That’s the thing, he doesn’t,” Gavin said. “That’s what he wanted me there for, to bounce our observations off one another.”

“What did you find?”

Gavin shrugged. “He was emotional and erratic. I’ve never seen the machine act like that, but I also don’t have a frame of reference outside of Nines. The machine was so emotional in comparison. Like he couldn’t help himself.”

“Wow,” Arianna sat back in her chair with the force of her surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah. I was… it kinda weird to see, to be honest.” 

“Hmmm… I wonder if he’s doing ok…”

That drew Gavin up short. “What are you talking about?”

Arianna held up a finger, typing and digging through her computer till she found what she was looking for. “Here, look.” She tilted her screen towards him. Gavin squinted at the words distanced by lines coming from a central point in the middle, a large 3D representation of… something. 

“What is that?”

“You know how I told you I worked on Connor before the revolution?”

Gavin nodded. “Yeah. Is that him?”

She nodded. “This is the personality matrix of a RK800.” She hovered over words as they slowly rotated by, the words growing in size when the curser passed over them. Passion, responsibility, anger, trust, were just a few of the many. “If I were to click on one,” she hit trust. “We have the ability to dial what behavior we wanted using these scales here,” she said, pointing to what almost looked like the digital version of a music mixing board. “So, the RK800 is not very trusting by nature, needing to doubt as an investigative unit. The innate ability to trust comes only in the form of his handling software. He extends that same trust to other androids he knows he can easily subdue.”

“Oh, interesting,” Gavin said, trying not to let everything go from one ear and out the other. 

“I believe the same general matrix was given to RK900 as well,” she said, closing the whole window, the code from before still running. 

“Why say all that?”

Arianna rolled her eyes. “Were you not listening to anything I just said?”

“I listened, doesn’t mean I understand!”

“Fine, fine.” she sat up straight. “What I’m saying is, if CyberLife did give RK900 the same personality matrix, his explosive reaction to Connor means there is something deep inside he must be hiding. They should inherently trust one another with strength and capability factors at such close range. He feels weak.”

Gavin’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Well, we have been through a lot.”

“This is true.”

“And Connor keeps pushing it.”

“That might be the factor,” Arianna admitted with hesitation. “That might be what is keeping RK900 at bay. That he--”

“They also fucked with his hormones and shit, from what Connor’s said.”

Arianna stopped, slowly closing her mouth. “Right. I forget how heavily modified RK900 is after… everything.”

“Yeah,” Gavin said with a sigh, trying to forget. He rubbed at his eyes, the machine looking so similar. In so much pain, the way his eyes screamed for someone to trust and-- 

Arianna’s chair squeaked as she left it, Gavin coming up just in time so that they could hug properly. He clung to her, worried of his own treacherous feelings. He didn’t want to lose her. Didn’t want to go back into dark waters when things were finally starting to look up. 

Arianna was the first woman he’d ever met that worked as much as he did. They came together for all the important times of the day, meals, mornings and an occasional movie. After that time together, they’d slowly drift off to do their work when they felt the pull. It was rare that one would interrupt the other from what they were doing to talk, like this, or cuddle or any of the other things they could get up to. They only gravitated towards one another through those mutually agreed upon times.

“My offer still stands,” Arianna said, rubbing slowly at Gavin’s shoulder. 

“Which one?”

Arianna pulled back, making sure they were looking at one another for this one. “That if you feel you need to talk to him, for any reason, to do it. I can be there if you want or not, just let me know if you do.”

Gavin opened his mouth a few times, trying to find the words. 

“Wait,” Arianna grabbed at his face, shocked. “You talked to him?!”

“I did. But it was all an out of body experience.”

Arianna sat back on his knees, brows pinched. “In a dissociative way or…?”

“No, no,” Gavin assured, hands resting on her hips naturally. “I know it was me saying the words and I remember what he said. Hank set me off about once in a lifetime chance bullshit and I was moving and talking to him before his boyfriend pulled up and whisked him away.”

“His boyfriend?” Arianna ran her fingers against the hairs at the nape of Gavin’s neck, eyes trained there. “How do you feel about that?”

Gain rolled his eyes, bouncing his knee to force her to hop on his lap. “You aren’t my therapist, Ari.”

Arianna grabbed a handful of his hair, pinning him back against the couch as he hissed. “I’m not, but I still care,” she leaned forward, kissing the column of his throat. Gavin groaned, fingers tightening their hold on her hips. “Would you rather not talk about it? That’s ok too.”

She relaxed her hold, but Gavin left himself physically open, chewing on her offer. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to shut her out, she was asking perfectly reasonable questions, but something deep inside him wanted to keep the brief conversation with the machine private, for now. 

“It’s ok,” Arianna kissed his exposed cheek, climbing off his lap to return to her computer chair. She raised a leg up, hugging it. “You don’t have to tell me everything. I know things between… RK900 and you are sensitive. I don’t want to push you or undo the work you’ve gone through. But if it’s ever eating away at you and you can’t tell me, you need to make an appointment and talk to someone about it.”

Gavin huffed, covering his face with his inner elbow, touched by Ari’s little declaration. “Why the fuck do you have to be the level headed one?”

Arianna chuckled. “All your partners have to be the level headed ones, Gavin. Have you met you?”

Gavin ripped his arm off his face, flipping her the bird with it. She stuck her tongue out, turning back to her computer, code no longer scrolling along the screen. “God, fuck!” She cursed loudly, grabbing at her hair in frustration. 

“It failed again?”

She was quiet for a few heartbeats. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said, coming up to click onto another screen with more code, glaring at it. “I really thought that would work.”

“Sorry, babe,” Gavin got up off the couch, kissing the crown of her head. “Did you eat lunch?”

More silence, her hands darting out type a few things, eyes trained forward. “No.” she said after nearly a minute of silence. 

“Sandwich ok?”

“Sure,” she mumbled, typing away as he turned for her kitchen. 

Maybe he was thinking about it too much. The machine had been surprised, bantered with him like Nines would have. The offer to be friends left his mouth and only after the boyfriend drove off did Gavin understand what door he might have opened up. There was something in him that hoped the machine wouldn’t take him up on the offer. Something deeper that he tried to smother with a vicious bite of his own sandwich that wanted it to. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We’re making plans like adults!” Hank argued. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today also happens to be my birthday, and I love to give back, so here is a second chapter! <3

Gavin lounged with his feet up on his desk, fucking around on his phone. Connor was on his right, keeping to himself after his plan over the weekend had nose dived so spectacularly. He’d quietly gotten Gavin his morning coffee, even coming back from an early lunch with Hank with Gavin’s favorite indian curry and naan bread. The remnants of the lunch were in the trash bin sitting next to his desk, but the silence stretched on. 

Throwing his phone down on his desk, Connor tensed but didn’t stop his work, needlessly comparing the different physical photo’s they’d gotten back from forensics an hour ago. Connor had been reviewing them for almost fifteen minutes. 

“You gonna keep hogging them? I want a chance to look it over before you solve the whole case,” Gavin said, leaning on his elbow to enter ever so slightly into Connor’s desk space. Connor glanced up, quickly shuffling the evidence together, handing it over to him. 

“No, sorry, Reed,” he muttered, reaching out for his computer to connect to it. 

Gavin snorted at the use of his last name. The fucker only used it when he knew he was in the wrong and trying to get on his good side. He shuffled back over to the longer portion of his desk, laying the photos out. 

“Seems fairly straight forward,” he said after a few minutes of comparing. 

“Indeed,” Connor said, eyes shut as he wrote up his side of the report. Even closed his eyelids still fluttered, a self conscious bug in his hardware he’d told Gavin about at some point in their working partnership. 

“Hey, Connor!” Christ called from the other side of the bull pin. 

His head snapped up, eyes training on the officer. “Yes?”

“Can you come look at this for me? Second opinion.”

“Get your own android, Miller!” Gavin shouted, Connor getting to his feet.

“Come on, Gavin! Got to share your external brain!”

Gavin chuckled, flipping him off. Chris waved him off, smiling and welcoming Connor in with a warmer smile. 

Gavin rubbed at his neck, looking over the clear murder suicide. He packed the photos back into the manila envelope. He sat back, ignoring Connor and Chris, grabbing his phone once more. He wandered around a few apps, nothing really catching his attention. 

DA Alex [2:41pm]: _ Hey Gavin, wanted to update you. We finalized jury selection. We are on track to make the court date.  _

Gavin’s heart dropped then spiked. He tapped on the message, taking him into the longer thread of the District Attorney and his conversations. 

Self [2:41pm]: _ Hey Alex, thanks for the update. _

Sometimes the pending trial got away from Gavin. Snuck up as an ugly reminder of what he’d gone through. The whole investigation had been invasive and traumatic, if he was going to be honest. The messy laws of what the machine had done under orders, if he could be convicted as Nines without memories and sentenced for it. New Jericho getting involved to protect and clear the name of a man long dead, despite his remaining hollow body. Gavin almost wished he could ask Alex to drop all the charges so he could mourn, heal and move on from it. 

Unfortunately, the state was taking the case and representing him and Nines for it and there was nothing Gavin could do. The high profile nature of the case meant every once in a while, it came up in the news and things got quiet around the precinct. People refused to meet his eyes at the graphic reminder of what he’d gone through. The more physical reminder of a missing android so similar to Connor that it was a wonder they didn’t act that way all the time. 

Just another step closer to all of this being over. The fast track the case was taking due to its nature helped soothe Gavin’s now racing thoughts. A case of this size going before a jury in under a year? That was crazy fast. 

God, had it really been nearly a year already? 

Shit, that meant that his and Arianna’s two month anniversary was coming up soon, didn’t it? He should try to plan something kinda big for that, shouldn’t he? Two months was a big deal in most relationships. The winding down of the honeymoon phase and into the more comfortable routine. 

Happy to have something to distract him, he switched from the messenger app to Google, doing some basic searching till he found something he thought was promising. 

“You ok?” Connor asked, taking his seat. “Your vitals spiked a moment ago.”

“Fuck off, Connor,” Gavin covered, letting some of the real anger seep into his tone. Connor didn’t respond, knowing when to leave well enough alone now with almost two years of deviancy under his--

“Wait, Connor,” Gavin sat up, catching the android off guard. 

“Yes, Gavin?”

“When did you deviate? That’s what you made your birthday, right?”

Connor blinked at him owlishly. “November eleventh, yes.”

“I know how you can make up the fuck up from this weekend,” Gavin said with what he hoped was a well meaning smile. 

Connor gave him a look. “Gavin, you knew what you were getting into.” 

“Fuck off, you said you’d owe me.”

“What was the lunch?” Connor asked, eyeing his trash can.

“Part one. Listen, Arianna and I’s anniversary is close to that. Wanna do a double date?”

Connor deflated a little, eyes darting off uncomfortably. “Hank has made plans for my--”

“No I didn’t!” Hank shouted from down the row. 

Connor paused, brows coming together in confusion. “You said--”

“I lied! We’ll be there!”

“Don’t just yell to yell!” Captain Fowler shouted as he passed through the row. “Get up and have a fucking conversation like adults!”

“We’re making plans like adults!” Hank argued. 

“Fuck off, Anderson! Walk and talk, you aren’t fifteen!”

Gavin and Connor laughed, Hank muttering to himself about ageist behavior and HR. 

“I will talk with Hank when we get home tonight about our current lack of plans. Did you have a place in mind?”

Gavin’s eyes darted down to his phone. “A couple. I’ll umm… send you information after I talk to Ari about it.”

“You should surprise her,” Connor said with a grin, hand holding his chin. It was the most relaxed Gavin had seen the android with the topic of Gavin’s significant other. 

“Surprise?”

“Women love to be surprised by acts of affection. Makes it seem like you thought ahead.”

Gavin huffed, grabbing the manila folder and handing it back to Connor. “Is that something Hank taught you because he can’t get it up anymore?”

Connor flushed beet red, making Gavin cackle. “Gavin!”

“Ah, don’t be so sensitive!” Gavin slapped the seam of their two desks, turning back to his own final report still needing to be typed up. The old ribbing was nice to have back, on the heels of his brief conversation with the machine. 

Maybe things weren’t so bad after all. 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Gavin!” Ari shouted in shock, a smile tearing at her lips. “What is all this?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big news! The first working draft of Part 3 is complete! 
> 
> It will still take time for the edits and modifications, but it's all done.
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy this cute little date night!

Gavin wasn’t sure, pacing in the private room of the upscale steak house in a monkey suit, if he should take dating advice from Connor ever again. Over the last three weeks, he’d convinced Gavin to plan the whole night for Arianna, down to what she wore. Gavin had kept her completely in the dark, only warning her to take the night off. She’d been suspicious of the occasion and Gavin gave her the half truth of Connor’s birthday. Ari accepted it hook, line and sinker.

The steak house was up scale and had great reviews on the food for the humans as well as being android friendly. The dark woods and low lighting were the perfect setting for a celebratory double date. He and Hank, probably more Connor if they were being honest, split the cost of the private room. It wasn’t a small amount of money but it was still the off season before holiday celebrations so the cost wasn’t a complete arm. 

Connor was picking Arianna up, who was still clueless as to what was going on. Gavin had left her a note on the bed with a few boxes under it this morning, with a kiss on her cheek. Connor helped him with size and reviews on a dress, picking a white strappy number that Gavin loved on the model and was sure to love on Arianna even more. White gladiator type heels and silver and blue jewelry to round the look off, by suggestion of Connor. 

Hank sat in a chair at one end of the table, nursing a finger of whiskey, the only one he was allowed to have all night by decree of Connor. One they were both taking seriously. Gavin wished he’d partaken, losing his mind slowly from the wait. What if Ari didn’t like? What if this was all too much too soon? He obviously couldn’t do this often on his Detective’s pay, what if she expected this more often? She did make more than him, though he didn’t care about that at all if he was being hone-- 

“Gavin,” Hank’s gruff voice cut through Gavin’s pacing. “If you don’t sit down, I’m going to sit on you. They’ll get here when they get-- Oh, wow.”

Gavin turned to where the old man’s gaze wandered, mouth dropping open. 

Connor and Ari were smiling from the door. Ari glowed in her white dress, the dim lighting no match for the satin shine. Connor was equally bright in his white suit jacket with a black undershirt and blue tie. 

“Gavin!” Ari shouted in shock, a smile tearing at her lips. “What is all this?!”

He approached, letting Connor pass him to get to Hank. He kissed her, enjoying the taste of something sweet as he pulled back. “Happy two months, babe.”

Arianna’s chocolate eyes glowed under the subtle yellow glow, giving the whole building an atmosphere screaming richness and decadence he didn’t really have. Her makeup was subtle, natural. Her curly hair was done up, falling gracefully from where it was pinned at the crown of her head. 

She clearly didn’t care about her lip gloss, grabbing at his face to pull him back down for a kiss. “Have fun topping the one year, holy shit!”

Hank laughed from behind them, Gavin fake gagging at seeing Connor practically in the old man’s lap. Arianna slapped him, both ignoring the flush on Connor’s cheeks as he quickly removed himself. 

“Hello, you must be the Lieutenant Asshole he so fondly talks about,” Ari said, hand held out to Hank.

Hank threw his head back, his whole body moving as he laughed. He slapped the table, taking her hand in the next movement. “Oh man, why haven’t I met you before, again? Yes, Lieutenant Asshole, at your service.”

“Hank!” Connor hissed, hitting his shoulder. 

“Also, happy birthday!” Arianna said, to Connor, pulling him into a hug. He was slow to react, surprised by her forwardness. “Unless that was a weird lie as well?” Arianna said, suddenly conscious that she might have made a faux pas.

“Oh, no, that was very real,” Connor assured her. “The day I deviated.”

“Well, then happy birthday indeed! I know I had some involvement in your creation, but I’m so happy to see how far you’ve come on your own.”

Connor gave her his best smile, but the false turn at the corners didn’t fool Gavin. He was putting on an act for her, uncomfortable still. Gavin tempered his anger, trying to see the effort that the android was putting in to make a good first impression and an even better night. 

“Thank you, Arianna,” Connor said, Ari returning to Gavin’s side. 

“Here,” Gavin said, pulling her seat out for her. Ari kissed his cheek before taking her seat. Hank got out of his own chair, doing the same for Connor who reciprocated in much the same way. 

The waiter came in then, introducing herself as she poured water into what Gavin had thought were wine glasses, taking down their drink orders and leaving as fast as she’d come. Conversation naturally turned to Arianna, whose work was foreign between the four of them.

“Do you still keep to a similar line of work as before?” Connor asked, folding the linen napkin uselessly in his lap. 

“I do,” Ari said, doing much the same with her own linen. “I work contract, though. Trying to find non-contract positions is hard right now. A lot of other Analysts and SDET’s were released during the fall of CyberLife. A lot of experience and not many positions for us all. I almost moved out of the city till I got my current job. Then I met Gavin,” she smiled up at him, her hand covering his. Gavin laced their fingers together, united. “Everything seemed to fall into place quickly.”

“Her boss is a total asshole though,” Gavin filled in. 

“Oh?” Hank said, messing with his whiskey glass, clearly wanting to take a sip but resisting to push it out as far as possible. 

“I’ve run into his type before,” Arianna assured, a light blush coming up on her cheeks. “Thinking he knows best, taking credit for the team's work without mention of who did it, micromanager, that kinda thing.” She waved a dismissive hand. “I’m still looking for other kinds of work in my limited free time, working the vine and all that.”

“Interesting, I don’t see any resume when looking for it,” Connor said, an edge to his voice. 

Gavin felt his hackle raise at the tone, knowing it all too well. It was the edge he used on suspects when he knew they were lying and he wanted them to know he knew. 

“Connor,” Hank muttered, mirroring Ari’s action, his larger hand covering Connor’s but in warning, recognizing the tone as well. 

The android seemed to come back to himself, shaking his head a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“No, it's fine,” Arianna said, giving off a nervous chuckle. “Ummm… any interesting cases?” She said, redirecting the conversation away from herself into more familiar territory. 

“We did get a B&E this morning,” Gavin admitted, still glaring at Connor. 

“Oh, that’s horrible. I couldn’t imagine someone just… breaking into my place. My parents are so paranoid about it, they made me get a gun when I moved out.”

“What kind?” Connor asked right away, eyes zeroing in on her. 

“Connor,” Gavin spat, turning to Ari. “You don’t have to answer that.”

“Uh,” Ari was turned in towards Gavin, intimidated by Connor’s intensity. “I don’t think I will answer that.”

“It was a simple question,” Connor spat at Hank, Gavin having missed their exchange. “Why is everyone being so touchy?”

“Connor, outside,” Gavin said, throwing his napkin on the plate. 

“I don’t think that’s appropriate for the--”

“Now,” Gavin hissed, cutting him off by getting to his feet. He didn’t check to see if the android was following him, opening the door and holding it open. Connor exited, arms folding over his chest the moment the door was closed. 

Gavin measured his voice before he leaned into Connor’s bubble. “What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?” He hissed. “This is a celebration for both us and you. Why are you interrogating her?”

“I think she’s hiding something from us,” Connor admitted, eyes roaming over the other patrons of the restaurant. 

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like what?”

“I think she might be involved with the Davis brothers,” Connor said, brown eyes snapping to his to catch Gavin’s reaction. 

Gavin wished at that moment that he hadn’t chosen some upscale place to have this double date. He wanted to take Connor out back and kick the android’s ass at the suggestion that Arianna had anything to do with the assholes that--- 

Gavin took a step closer to Connor, the android not backing down. “Do you seriously think I want to hear that?”

“It’s the truth,” Connor said, scanning the crowd again, assuring no one was listening. “Sorry the truth is inconvenient for you.” 

“What the fuck kinda proof you got to back that shit up?” Gavin demanded through a hiss. “You just want to break us up, Connor. I can see through your bullshit!”

“I believe I have real evidence that she might be--”

Gavin pushed past him, grabbing for the door handle. “Then send it to the investigators at the FBI. She’ll be arrested and you can be as right as you keep harping on being. I don’t want to fucking know anymore.”

He left the android, red LED and shocked, outside. He entered alone, Hank out of his seat and passing him to get to Connor. 

Arianna bit her lip at the table, ringing the linen between her hands. “I’m sorry, Gavin. I didn’t mean to make this--”

“No, don’t worry about it. You had nothing to do with this. Connor just can’t be an investigative meddling asshole for a single moment in his fucking life.”

“We made him that way,” she muttered, taking his hand again. Arianna rested against him, waiting for the other two to come back. They were followed by the waitress who knew something was up. She placed their drinks down and took the human’s food orders, leaving swiftly. 

“I apologize, Arianna,” Connor started formally, messing with Hank’s fork. “Today was a stressful day and I haven’t had the proper amount of time to decompress.” 

“Apology accepted,” she bit her lip, seeming to battle with something. “I see the calibration tests are still a base behavior.”

Connor cracked a small smile, leaving the fork alone. “Yes. Even deviant, I find it soothing.”

“Oh, God, the quarter thing?” Hank groaned. 

Arianna's laugh broke the tension. “Yes!”

“He took one of the quarters from me during the early part of our first investigation,” Connor admitted with a fond smile.

“What?!” Arianna said, eyes darting between the two. “Why?”

“It was annoying!” Hank insisted, cheeks blotchy, scratching at his hair. “The  _ ping _ ,  _ ping _ ,  _ ping _ . Why did you guys even give him that?”

“Hands are the hardest thing to calibrate and test,” Arianna explained, immediately in her element. “It wasn’t me, but our manager who came up with the simple coin test. It told us three important things. That the android had its sensors on, that those sensors were giving good environmental reads and that the android had its spatial awareness calibrated properly. If the coin fell at anypoint, it was a tell of a glitch in the system we needed to hunt down and fix.”

“Huh, dropping things means a glitch?” Hank said, eyes darting over suggestively to Connor who glared at him. Gavin was unable to hide his smile, knowing something was up.

“There’s a story there,” Gavin said to Ari in a stage whisper. 

“No, there isn’t!” Connor insisted, blushing. 

Arianna and Gavin both laughed, letting the topic go. From there, conversation flowed naturally. The food arrived and was absolutely delightful. Gavin might have let out a few moans at how tender the steak was. 

“Fuck are you eating the food or are you _eating_ _the food_?” Arianna jabbed at him suggestively. Connor doubled over in reaction to Gavin’s shock, Hank near choking on his own bite of beef. 

“Fuck off, babe, it’ll be your turn soon enough.” 

Connor and Hank both doubled over, holding their stomachs. Ari got a look on her face, Gavin saw his demise. 

“We both know who tops,” she shot back with a cocky smirk. Gavin knew he went beet red, floundering for anything that could top that. 

“Conceed,” Hank begged between breaths of air, slapping the table as he howled. 

“Fuck,” Gavin mumbled, angrily digging his fork into his whipped potatoes. 

Hank and his android eventually got a hold of themselves and the meal finished up nicely. At the admittance of the occasion, the waitress assured that the lone glass of Thirium Connor had been nursing all night was on the house and wondered if maybe Hank would like a slice of cake to help celebrate. 

“No more, the meal was too good,” Hank said, patting his distended stomach as proof. 

“Yes, sir. Separate checks?”

“Please,” Hank said, reaching back for his wallet. 

“No, one,” Arianna pipped up, as Gavin reached for his own. 

“Uh, babe,” Gavin muttered, glancing over at Hank. “Don’t--”

“I want to pay,” she assured, nodding to the waitress who hesitated. “My treat for earlier.”

“You really don’t have too,” Connor jumped in. 

“I feel like I need to. I haven’t had the chance to really spend the money outside of the rent and bills, so please, let me get this. It’s not a bother.”

The waitress waited only a moment more before deciding the men’s silence was good enough. She wandered off to get the check. 

“That’s really sweet of you,” Hank started up, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

“Really, don’t mention it,” she said, finishing off her glass of wine. “I feel it’s the least I can do for such wonderful company.”

Arianna didn’t even glance at the bill when it was handed to her, simply adding a card and handing it back. 

“Shit, babe,” Gavin said, interlacing their fingers together. “That’s kinda hot.”

“Oh, is it?” Ari said with a smirk. 

“Keep it together over there,” Hank groused, finishing the last of his whiskey. “Don’t need to try and split a cleaning bill along with everything else.”

“Of course!” Ari said, giving Gavin a saucy wink. 

They exited the restaurant, after the check was returned, tip added and everyone bundling up in their winter wear. The couples stuck together as they walked down the street to their cars. Arianna huddled in closely to Gavin to try and ward off the winter cold around them, the strappy shoes cute but not effective in the weather.

“That was really lovely,” Ari said through a shiver, Gavin holding her a little closer. “Thank you for tonight, everyone.”

“It was no problem,” Hank said, offering his hand to her. She took it, the two shaking. “Hope to see you again soon.”

“Me as well, have a good night!” She bid, turning for Gavin’s car. 

“Night guys, see you Monday,” Gavin bid as they returned the pleasantries. 

Ari froze just as Gavin was about to separate from her. “Ari?” 

Her eyes, horrified, were trained on something behind him. Defensive, Gavin turned and tensed for a different reason. 

It was Nines. No, no, the machine. He had facial hair, a goatee spread wide in a smile. It was coming around the back of the car, the taller Federal Agent Gavin recognized from before offering it his elbow, taken elegantly. The machine’s figure cut sharply in what looked like a gray tailored three quarter pea coat, a spot of red from its tie peeking out. 

“They gave him facial hair?” Ari said, horrified. She broke Gavin from his trance too late. The machine's eyes cast up naturally, scanning its environment in the only way it knew to take it in. He didn’t freeze up, simply smiling in their direction, the boyfriend not even paying attention, looking off towards Hank and Connor with surprise. The machine gave a nod of acknowledgment. The boyfriend snapped something, gray eyes glaring at them. The machine whipped around, body language screaming out how uncomfortable it was. The Fed said something with a covering smile, picking up whatever conversation they’d been having. 

“Gavin?” Ari touched him lightly, Gavin reaching up slowly taking her hand in his.

“Yeah?”

“You ok?”

Gavin took a moment to really come back to himself, shaking his head to get rid of the fog that’d descended. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Come on, you’re freezing.” 

Ari seemed to disagree with him being fine, but she couldn’t argue with her being cold. Gavin turned the car on quickly, getting the engine to heat up. 

“The offer to talk is still there,” Arianna reminded him quietly, rubbing her hands together. 

“I’m fine, babe. Promise.”

“Ok.”

Gavin stayed up late that night, mind playing back that twenty seconds in the parking lot. The machine had willingly taken the Fed’s arm, but the fear, the distance it kept between them, where Gavin couldn’t remember Nines ever wanting it with him. He didn’t draw attention to them, worried about his partner's reaction? He knew the machine would keep his distance, but something felt off about it… Gavin couldn’t quite put his fingers on it. He felt like he was reading into it too much but his years of dealing with victims screamed that he was being fucking stupid. 

Gavin picked up his phone, pulling up the messenger app against his better judgement. He searched for the old contact he hadn’t had the strength to look at. BF<3 was easy enough to find. He opened their text history, the messages appearing like everything was normal and they weren’t time stamped from almost a year ago. 

Next to the caller was a little blocked symbol. Gavin froze, trying to think back to when he’d done that… and couldn’t quite recall if it was before or after the apartment meetup. It was around that time, though. 

He hugged Ari closer to his chest as he unblocked the contact. He spent another few minutes thinking of a new contact designation, not strong enough to keep the old one. He smiled at his choice, typing it in with a smirk. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 4 chapters left. 
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> Ready?


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gavin near had a heart attack as the caller ID flashed across his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some texting, blow jobs and honesty.
> 
> Enjoy!

The first text message came out of the blue on the following Monday. 

™ [6:44am]:  _ She’s really cute. Good for you. _

Gavin near had a heart attack as the caller ID flashed across his phone. The machine, Gavin not wanting to make it so obvious shortened it to TM and his phone took it as ‘trademark’ and he didn’t have the heart to change it. He gagged on his toothbrush in his rush to grab his phone, clearing the home screen, heart racing. Ari was still in the shower, not five feet from him. He coughed to rid his airways of the violent intrusion, banging on his chest a few times. 

“You ok?” Ari asked, turning the water off and reaching for her towel. “What happened?” 

“Yeah, swallowed wrong,” he said around a wheeze. He couldn’t help but laugh at the playful bounce of her brows, eyes still lingering on her naked form before she wrapped the offending cloth around herself. 

Gavin’s brain refused to let the text lay to rest, the new caller ID burned into the back of his eyelids. He finished his normal morning routine, kissing Arianna goodbye as she set up her desk for the day. 

“Want to meet up for lunch?” She offered, cradling her oversized cup of coffee on her knee.

“Uh, sure,” Gavin said as he grabbed his keys and wallet, ready to get going. “Text me when you’re on your way.”

“Will do, love you.”

“Love you,” he muttered back, half way out the door. 

His hands tapped along to the beat of the pop song on the radio he hadn’t thought to change, mind elsewhere. He wasn’t sure why he was in such a good mood, even giving Tina a playful bit of banter on the way to his desk. Connor noticed immediately, setting Gavin’s normal cup of morning coffee down gently to get the human’s attention. 

“Something good happen last night?” He asked with a smirk. “Or this morning, maybe?” 

“What?” Gavin asked, confused by the line of questioning. 

“You’re smiling to yourself,” Connor said, walking around to his desk and taking his seat. “It’s kinda creepy.”

“I wasn’t smiling,” Gavin corrected, purposefully scowling. 

“You were smiling,” Hank said as he passed by, his own cup of coffee in hand. Gavin flipped him off. “Creeping people out, Reed.”

“Fuck off, Anderson,” he mumbled just low enough that the older man probably wouldn’t hear him.

“Soooo?” Connor prompted after a beat of silence. 

“So, what?” Gavin retorted, knowing just by the tone of the android's voice he wasn’t going to let this go. 

“Did Ari do something?” Connor prompted. 

The assumption was perfectly logical, given his relationship status, but the reminder sent a cold chill down Gavin’s back. He let himself get this fucking giddy over a text message by the fucking machine? How the hell… when the hell? 

“Fuck off, Connor,” Gavin bit out to cover his rising shame. Connor sat back, eyebrows at his hairline. 

“Oh, touchy I see.”

“Seriously, don’t you have anything else to focus on?” Gavin grit, throwing his rising self embarrassment at the android. 

“Not till eight,” he said. Gavin’s eyes darted down to the digital clock. They had two minutes, but Gavin wasn’t one to really care about that. Once he was at work, there was work to be done. “Let me guess she--”

Worried that he might have to lie to Connor, Gavin panicked. Connor would surely see right through it with that near top of the line CyberLife technology. Force the truth Gavin couldn’t admit to himself right now. “If you’re going to flap those lips, at least make use of it and suck Hank off,” Gavin blurted out, interrupting the android. 

Connor went quiet, eyes scanning over him. “Did you break up?”

“Seriously, you would think I’d be happy over that?” Gavin couldn’t hold back the rage. It was like the person he was years ago was returning with a vengeance and there was nothing he could do to stop it. “Go fuck yourself.”

“Very original, Gavin,” Connor mocked. 

Gavin shot to his feet, unable to hold the ugliness inside. “You might be the original but you’ll never be better than the sequel.”

Connor’s mouth hung open in shock for a moment. His brows slowly came together in recognition, eyes darting all over Gavin’s body. To keep the android from completing his scan, Gavin nabbed his jacket and raced out of the bull pin. 

His hands shook in the pockets of his jacket, pulling out the pack of smokes and lighting one up. 

“Fuck!” He kicked at the icey gravel, trying to release some of the self loathing in a constructive way. The only thing he was sure would properly get rid of this would be to text the machine back or get into an argument with Ari just to hate fuck, which she didn’t deserve. 

“Gavin!” Connor called out behind him. 

He groaned, throwing his head back with a desperate plea to any deity that they let him just melt on the spot. He’d rather die than face himself or Connor right now. 

“What the fuck do you want?!” He demanded angrily, rounding on the android. 

“Is it Nines?” He asked, keeping his distance. 

Gavin grit his teeth, the answer sitting on his tongue. The silence answered for him though. Connor sagged a little, a hysterical bubble of laughter leaving him, soothing Gavin’s inner turmoil with doubt. 

“Why the hell are you laughing?”

“He won’t answer any of my messages after the mall,” Connor said, eyes trained down on his shoes. “I was worried that his… boyfriend,” Connor had a hard time saying the word. “Didn’t take kindly to seeing you, based on his body language. I was worried he was damaged.”

“No,” Gavin assured. “I saw him on Saturday.”

Connor’s head snapped up, brown eyes hopeful. “Did he look ok?”

“It’s none of your business, Connor,” Gavin reminded him. “You need to leave him, us, alone.” 

“Avoiding the question. He’s ok then,” Connor stood a little straighter, Gavin glaring at him. 

Gavin almost said something, the words were right on the edge of his lips, but his anger of the situation and his lack of control rallied at the last second. “Fuck off, Connor. You’re two heartbeats away from getting a new partner,” Gavin warned, an edge of the truth bleeding into the statement. He took a pull on his cig as Connor mulled over something. 

“I just want what you both are too stubborn to admit to yourselves,” Connor assured. 

“You don’t know us better than we know ourselves,” Gavin hissed, knocking shoulders with the android as he passed him, throwing his unfinished cancer stick on the ground. “Going to lunch with Ari, by the way. Don’t wait for me.”

“Thank you for letting me know,” Connor said, standing in place. 

*

Ari met him at the little cafe just down the street. Once his favorite place, he hadn’t been in some time, blocked by the memories. Ari’s curls bounced in the winter wind, nose and cheeks red from the cold. She waved at him, quickly entering the building as he crossed the street. 

“Hello,” Gavin said, bending down to kiss her in the doorway. Ari hummed, taking a hold of his elbow as they got in line. 

“Hello, yourself,” Ari said, cuddling in close to him. 

“Why did you wait outside? You could have been warm in here.”

“I wanted to see you as soon as possible,” she said with a cheeky smile. 

Gavin smirked, rolling his eyes. “Gonna make me gag.”

“I would never do that here,” Arianna insisted, shooting him a look. They ordered their food and paid, finding a table near the back, the area around them mostly empty but the space was filling fast with the lunch rush.

“So, I was thinking,” Ari said mid way through their meal, the porcelain cup of her cappuccino in hand. Gavin peered up from his panini, grabbing for a napkin to wipe at his mouth. “About you meeting my parents.”

“Oh,” Gavin sat back, thinking about the milestone. He wasn’t sure why he dreaded the parents the most. Maybe because they knew how dangerous the job really was. How it could cause pain to partners in many different ways. Talking in his partner's ear till things took that inevitable turn and things dissolved and broke off. 

Yet even now, Gavin didn’t have a good excuse for this stage. It was inevitable. “Yeah, sure?”

“Sure?” Ari said around the lip of her cup. 

“I’ll meet them,” he said with a nod, waiting. 

“Do you  _ want _ to meet them?” She clarified. 

“I don’t know of anyone who  _ likes _ to meet the parents,” Gavin deadpanned. Ari bobbed her head side to side in agreement, swallowing her sip of coffee. 

“I haven’t really brought anyone to meet them either,” Ari admitted, playing with the cup, not meeting Gavin’s eyes. “I haven’t really had the time to date, as you can tell by my work schedule.”

Gavin nodded, “I understand, babe. No pressure, right?”

Ari smiled brightly. “Maybe a little,” she said, winking at him. Her eyes darted around them, Gavin following her shifting gaze till she leaned forward over the table. “You finish that,” she whispered, eyes catching the last of his hot sandwich, “and I’ll blow you back at the car.”

Gavin felt the blood drain from his brain to his cock. “Oh, fuck,” he muttered, really looking around to make sure no one had heard her. “Fuck this, then.”

Ari’s laughter was bright, Gavin grabbing a hold of her and rushing them both out of the restaurant. 

“This way!” She said, running off ahead to the little parking lot behind the establishment. He followed her into the back of the car, not minding the fact that people understood the implications of two giddy adults in the passenger seats of a car meant, even in broad daylight. 

Gavin slammed the door shut, reaching for his belt as Ari shut her own door closed. She was on him in a second, grabbing at his jaw to turn his face to kiss him. It was cold in the car, but fuck did Gavin’s semi-hard dick not give a fuck, Ari’s hand finding it as he reached between his boxers to pull it out. 

Gavin groaned, throwing his head back, Ari spitting in her hand in the next moment, rubbing him softly, getting him the rest of the way to hard. She tucked her loose hair over one shoulder and the rest behind her ear. Gavin grabbed what he could to make it easier, watching with rapt attention as Ari’s red stained lips kissed at the gland on the underside of his cock. Her brown eyes searched his, squinting in a hidden smile when he groaned again. 

She came back up, finally taking him down properly. Gavin resisted with everything that was in him not to thrust up into her heat, the cold of the car not helping the want to be as deep into her mouth as possible. Slowly she bobbed her way down, near taking him to the root. She’d gotten really good at it over the course of their relationship. 

“Fuck, babe,” Gavin groaned, hips gittereing up against his will. She patted his thigh three times, a quiet command that he could do whatever he wanted. “Shit, shit, shit,” Gavin grabbed at her hair, using it as an anchor. “Let me know,” he warned, shallowly thrusting up at first to assure she wasn’t getting hurt. Ari didn’t make a sound, swallowing on his upward thrusts, compensating perfectly. 

Gavin switched between moving her head with his hands and thrusting up with his hips. 

“Think you can go all the way?” He asked, breathless. Ari was part way down. She took a deep breath, diving down till the tip of his cock brushed the back of her throat. She tried to swallow him further down, but gagged. She shook her head, coming all the way off to catch her breath properly. 

“Fuck, babe, I’m sorry,” Gavin hissed, rubbing at her face to sooth her with one hand, the other coming around his dick to keep it warm. 

Ari grabbed his hand, holding him there against her. “It’s fine, I wanted to try. Ok, come on, big boy. I know you want to cum in my mouth.”

“God, fuck me, yes,” Gavin muttered, eyes following Ari on her way back down till she was once more near consuming him. She didn’t let up this time, taking control back. She hollowed out her cheeks, using her tongue to poke and prod at his gland on the pull up off his dick. Gavin was helpless, fingers wanting to grab at her hair and fuck her face, but instead rubbing the meat of his thumbs into his eyes, trying to both stave off the pleasure and feel it all the better. 

“I’m-- babe I’m-- fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Gavin couldn’t help himself. He grabbed down at her head of curls, holding Ari in place as his cum shot down the back of her throat with a loud groan. She took it all down like a champ, patting Gavin’s thigh. He immediately pulled his hands away, letting her up. 

“Like that?” she said, wiping at her chin to rid it of her spit and his own fluids. 

“God, I love you,” he said, pulling her into a kiss. He didn’t mind tasting himself on her tongue, groaning as she took the time to tuck him back into his underwear. 

“Love you too, mister big bad Detective,” she said, finger flicking his nose. 

“Ow!” Gavin jerked away from her, immediately going for a tickle attack. 

“No, wait! Gavin, stop!” She squealed, the car rocking as she threw herself back, desperate to get away from him. He cornered her in the cramped space, fingers aiming for the best places possible. “I surrender, defeat!” She pleaded. 

Gavin moved back, trying to catch his own breath after laughing almost as hard as she was. They caught their breaths, Ari slowly getting her barings. 

“I would love to meet your parents,” Gavin said into the quiet panting. 

Arianna sat up fully, coming in close, eyes hopeful. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Gavin said, grabbing her hand, kissing the back of it. 

“Are you doing anything for Christmas?”

“Uh,” meeting parents with the addition of the single largest holiday of the year? “No. No plans.”

“We have this big celebration every year,” Arianna started, making the pit in Gavin’s stomach grow all the larger. “I think it would be perfect!”

“Yeah,” Gavin hoped his voice sounded convincing, the anxiety growing in his chest. “Sounds like fun!”

“Great, thank you, Gav,” She kissed his cheek. “Let's get you to work, huh?”

“Yeah, good idea,” Gavin said, both moving up to the front of the car, Ari taking the driver's seat. He kissed her again before heading into the station. He headed right back to the bathroom to use it and freshen up. 

Choosing a stall, Gavin walked in, pulling his phone out to fuck around for a few more minutes till Connor was sure to come searching for him. The messenger app pulled up first, the last person he wanted to see caller ID staring back at him innocently. 

He and Ari had talked about this at a rather high level. He wasn’t cheating. He was just opening up conversation for a friend. Gavin would just have to tell her later that he was talking to the machine. 

Self [12:58pm]:  _ Thank you, she’s an amazing person _

He sent it before he could overthink it. Now filled with nervous energy again, he finished up and left only to be forced to sit at his desk. 

™ [12:59pm]:  _ I’m sure she is. How are you doing today? _

And on it went. Between the paperwork and the gentle banter as Connor tried once again to mend the rift in their working relationship, he was texting the machine. 

Kelston Fosters, the Federal Agent Gavin couldn’t for the life of himself find a smidge to like, was the boyfriend. Gavin ribbed the machine for a solid five minutes about dating up, but it started to pull up old feelings that Gavin didn’t want to look at. The machine seemed to take the hint when he switched topics to Arianna. 

™ [3:03pm]:  _ I know Arianna. She was one of the Lead QA Engineers who worked on me personally, before the revolution. I know how smart she is. I find it rather ironic if I can be honest that you found each other. I hope only the best between you two, Gavin.  _

Gavin didn’t respond for a while, the old feelings clawing at his insides. The texts coming from the machine were too raw for Gavin to handle with the case getting closer to trial and the one year anniversary of the incident on its heels. A year ago he’d lost the love of his life. 

Gavin found himself outside, not remembering walking away from his desk. He let the cold chill him, stave off the rising emotions burning his eyes with unshed tears. He still had his phone in hand. 

Self [3:06pm]:  _ Yeah, we’ve kinda talked about it. She’s helped me a lot. _

™ [3:06pm]:  _ I’m so glad you have someone who can be there in your life for you. _

Self [3:06pm]:  _ Does mister FBI do the same? _

Androids didn’t really need time to write up text messages even when under load, they could multitask with the best of them. The two minutes of silence put Gavin on edge. 

™ [3:08pm]:  _ Of course.  _

“Of course? That’s it, you fucker?” Gavin demanded out loud from his phone. He couldn’t think of anything to write back, the conversation coming to a natural end. He was out of time when Connor poked his head out from the door. 

“Gavin, you--?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Gavin shoved his phone back into his pocket, nervous at the implications. 

*

“Hey, babe,” Gavin prompted, lazily playing with a near perfect curl of Ari’s hair. They were cooling off after their latest round, his partner on the edge of sleep. 

“Hmmm?” 

“I want to let you know that me and the machine are talking.”

That woke her up. Getting an elbow under her to gaze down at him. “Oh? When was this?”

“Yesterday. He messaged me and we’ve been kinda… I guess catching up? Mostly been trying to one up one another with our partners,” he said with a sly grin. “How awesome you are.”

Ari playfully slapped his chest, resting back down against him. “So sweet of you, Gavin.”

“I thought so.”

The room lapsed into silence, Ari’s breathing evening out again. 

“I’m happy,” she muttered quietly. “I want you to be happy.”

“I am,” he assured her, curling to kiss the crown of her head, arm coming down from playing with her hair to bracket up against her back. He rubbed soothing circles in the dimple of her lower back till she was asleep. 

He followed after her with the small weight taken off his chest. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three Chapters left
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> .  
> The next won't be so kind.


End file.
